


Hostage

by TCGeek



Category: Caduceus | Trauma Center Series
Genre: Hostage Situations, Multi, Shooting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-02-22 09:31:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13164126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TCGeek/pseuds/TCGeek
Summary: After Derek can't save a patient that was in a horrific accident, a chain of events unravels that eventually puts everyone he loves at risk. When all is said and done, who will make it out alive?





	1. Frozen

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story a long time ago and have since returned to not only finish it, but to rewrite the very shitty early chapters. The whole thing is in the midst of a painful revision to bring it into style that I use now, and not the crap I used to write. The whole thing exists on my ffnet and devart accounts, but I will only be updating here as I revise.
> 
> This chapter starts later in the story and then I return to the beginning in chapter two. Hope you enjoy.

Sound was non-existent, for she had screamed herself nearly deaf. Angie could feel her lips moving, breath expelling from her mouth – she was still screaming his name repeatedly though he did not hear her. At that time, her mind reverted back to when they had that fateful conversation just a few days ago – the conversation which had become a reality to them both. The words he had said to her spun through her mind, as she willed herself to try to get to him, her heartbeat pounding in her eardrums.

_I couldn't imagine not fighting back, just sitting there at a time like that…_

Angie tried rising to her feet unsuccessfully, her left leg throbbing where the bullet remained inside of it. The pain fired through her whole body as she put weight on it, immediately collapsing back down on the ground with a hopeless cry.

Time seemingly stopped. If she could just get to him, she could save him - get him to open his eyes once more. She needed to get there.

_Of course I'd fight back… especially if someone I loved was in any sort of danger._

Letting the injured leg hang limp, Angie dug her fingertips into the cold tile, crawling towards his unconscious form. Neither he nor the man were moving, despite her constant wailing screams.

Tears poured from her eyes and wet the tile under her, making her hands slip as she tried to pull herself forward, fighting to get to him before it was too late.

_So you're saying that if it's a choice between you and them…_

"DEREK - PLEASE DEREK, WAKE UP!" she shouted, barely able to get the words out through her fit of sobs.

… _you take the bullet?_

Grappling against the tile, she used the toes from her uninjured leg to propel herself forward, pulling herself the rest of the way with her arms. She shook uncontrollably, having seemingly cried out all the strength in her body, but adrenaline pressed her forward… only ten feet separated them now.

Derek's light brown hair fell over the top of his head, ends resting on the tile in a small pool of blood - the gash on his forehead was still open. She never took her eyes off of him though her own leg bled the same way, desperate to find any signs of life as she willed herself to reach him.

_Absolutely I take the bullet – no questions asked._

Forgetting the pain momentarily, she pushed with her left leg and shrieked instantly, the sensation of her mistake like a knife that had raked down every nerve in her leg. She gripped the gaping wound momentarily and considered giving up, realizing that it wasn't an option - she had to press on despite the blinding pain.

The pain didn't matter now – nothing mattered now unless he was alive.

"Derek, say something!.. PLEASE?!"

_You seriously mean that? You would put yourself in that position?_

Angie rolled back onto her stomach, gripping onto the tile once more as she grit her teeth together, trying to move through the searing pain. She was closing in on the body of her doctor. Her best friend. The man she had fallen in love with.

_When you love someone, and their life is at stake…_

The man who had taken a bullet for her, the woman he loved as well.

Angie stretched her arm out as far in front of her as it would go, her fingertips grazing his hair… she was so close…

"Dammit, Derek, stay with me…"

She pulled herself next to him, looking at his face as hands instinctively reached to touch it, though he was still and his eyes remained closed. Summoning what little strength she had left, she pulled herself up and put all her weight onto her right leg as she threw every bit of her 120 pound frame into rolling that bastard off of him. Once she had managed to move him away, she noticed that Derek was in fact, still breathing. However, relief turned back to indescribable horror as she laid her eyes on the giant pool of blood that had stained the middle of his scrubs – directly around the center of his spine.

Angie laid back down on the floor, positioning her face right next to his, where she begged him to open his eyes, to be okay.

"Derek – please, don't do this… _please…_ " she sobbed, her hands rubbing his face, waiting for a sign - any sign that would wake her up from what had become a living nightmare.

"I-I, love you.. Derek… I love you… s-so much… please, wake up…"

She pulled herself back up into a sitting position, careful not to yell in his ears.

"SOMEBODY, HELP! PLEASE! … PLE-EASE!" she shrieked, returning back down to examine his unconscious form. Angie laid on her stomach next to him, holding his head in her arms as she cried for help, her face pressed tightly against his. She kissed his skin repeatedly in between the blood-curdling screams. Together they had witnessed their share of horrific events, but they paled in comparison to this. Never had she lost it like this before...

_I just always figured you do whatever it takes to save their life... including give up your own._

…because she had never known the feeling of what's its like to lose everything.


	2. Tension

Sunshine. Birds singing. Not a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful morning.

Closing the door, Angie let the crisp breeze brush her face as she exited her doctor's car, who drove her to work every other week. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she walked around the car to where Derek was standing. His hand held his keys out long enough to lock the doors to the car, both hands sliding into his pockets upon hearing the beep. As she appeared at his side he turned his gaze toward her, drew in a big breath and let it out, now smiling. With a smile from her in return, they began the long walk inside together.

The doors at Caduceus opened for the famous surgical duo and closed behind them, bright smiles on their faces as they greeted their coworkers on yet another Monday morning. Still obviously tired, Derek walked over to the elevator and pressed the up button, closing his eyes while he waited for the doors to open. This moment of rest was unfortunately short-lived, eyes snapping back open immediately as he heard Angie let out an annoyed sigh.

"I'm pretty sure that you can manage to walk up ONE flight of stairs, Dr. Stiles." she stated, hands on her hips. He whirled around to look at her with pleading eyes, seeing that her eyebrows were raised at him expectantly. He failed to budge despite her silent prodding, and when she realized he wouldn't move under his own volition, she grabbed him by the crook of his elbow and pulled him after her towards the stairs. Derek let out a small whimper as she dragged him through the doorway to the stairwell, the whimper morphing into a loud groan when he heard the elevator doors open behind them.

"Yeah, its okay. I'm not, you know… tired, or anything…" Derek muttered, out of breath at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, you're fine." Angie chided, chuckling slightly at her doctor as he trailed behind her with a mope. His eyes turned wide and irritated as two nurses stepped off of the elevator that he had summoned, Angie laughing at him with a shrug that showed she didn't care.

Derek reached in his pocket for his keys and unlocked the door to their shared office, heaving a big sigh as he turned on the lights. Shuffling slowly toward his desk he watched as Angie set her purse down on her own desk and removed a tube of chapstick. She slowly applied it to her lips before smacking them together, hand sliding in into her bottom uniform pocket while the other hand grabbed pens from her top drawer and clipped them to the small pocket up top. Derek sat down at his desk and smiled as he watched Angie complete her morning ritual, always a creature of habit. Lost in the distraction, he never noticed her turn around to look at him until her eyes unexpectedly met his, which had snapped open in panic. He quickly looked away and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as his cheeks flared, desperately trying to play it off, though he had been too late. Angie, being the quick wit she was, noticed immediately. And just like every other time she could manage to tease him about something, she took the opportunity happily.

"Did I put on my chapstick wrong, Doctor?" she asked, smiling as she sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

Derek's cheeks turned nearly purple as he stared forward, stammering as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Uh, nope, it looks really good... I, I mean, I wasn't looking... at, I was... uh, looking at…"

Angie laughed and rose from her chair, turning her back to Derek. Continuing in her morning tradition but now attempting to lay it on thick to embarrass him further, she bent over slowly and opened middle drawer to her desk, rummaging through it for her paperwork. Derek watched from his seat transfixed before he shook his head to snap out of it, his cheeks flaring back up once more.

" _She's got to be doing this on purpose_ …" he thought, unable to take his eyes off her and also unaware that his suspicions were indeed correct.

"Doctor Stiles?" she queried, now facing him with paperwork in her hands and a mischievous smile on her lips.

"Angie?" he replied, attempting to feign an outward facade of ignorance though his purple face had given the lie away. There was no other way around it - he had dug himself a very large hole and had climbed in to set up residence.

Angie knew Derek well enough to recognize when he was shy and embarrassed and over the years, had learned to walk the line carefully of where her teasing should stop. Therefore, instead of calling him out on it further, she giggled and tapped the stack of paperwork in her arms to signal that they had work to do. She walked over to sit on the couch and he slowly followed suit, still absolutely mortified at the chain of events that had just unfolded, though grateful that she had let him off the hook rather quickly. Shaking it off, he grabbed his own stack of paperwork and a pen from his desk before sitting down next to her on the couch, careful to place the small bit of distance between them that she normally favored.

They dove headfirst into work, nothing else to do for the rest of the day besides the paperwork in their hands and a meeting scheduled for late in the afternoon.

"Mind if I turn on the TV?" Angie asked with a glance over at Derek who for once, was working pretty diligently.

"Go for it." he replied, eyes still fixed downward. Angie watched him for a moment, smile coming to her face as she observed him scrawl his surprisingly neat print across the forms in front of him. She pulled her attention away and reached for the remote, turning on the TV that they had bought for their office in order to help days like this pass a little more quickly.

"Breaking News" was the only phrase that could rouse Derek from his paperwork-induced coma, both he and Angie now looking up towards the screen with interest.

"- _We're bringing you breaking news from the US Bank in downtown Angeles Bay, where a robbery is currently underway. If you are just joining us, police are trying to find a way to prevent further escalation in the bank after two shots were fired. Initial reports from a police spokesperson say the shots rang after a hostage inside attempted to fight back. We are told that the first shot did not harm anyone but that the second struck a man who dove in front of his wife and unborn child, taking the bullet to the chest. The injured man was released by the suspect for medical care and was transported to Trinity Hospital's trauma center, but there is no further word on his condition at this time-_."

Angie and Derek looked on at the TV in silence as they momentarily abandoned their paperwork to watch the story unfold. Over the half hour they watched, the police had managed to get inside and detain the suspect, and bring all the victims inside to safety. Angie turned the channel to something less heavy shortly after the resolution, both of them exhaling at the same time.

"I just can't believe that. It's so awful what people will do these days." Angie said quietly, attention turning back to her paperwork.

"Yeah, it's really scary. I'm glad almost everyone made it out okay, but good on that guy for trying to fight back." he replied, before scribbling his signature on one of the forms.

Angie shot her gaze to him like a rocket with widened eyes, surprise evident.

"Are you serious?!" she shrieked. "You can't fight back when people are obviously unstable and armed – you don't know what they'll do! There's a reason that the phrase is 'run-hide-fight'... fight is the last ditch effort! Even with all my Aikido training, I would never purposely start a scuffle during something so volatile!"

She turned her attention back to her paperwork after the brief tirade, Derek now the one to look up and over at her.

"Are YOU kidding? Being trapped as a hostage with a gun wielding maniac is EXACTLY the time you need to save your life! I couldn't imagine not fighting back, just sitting there at a time like that… I mean, if it was up to me, f course I'd fight back… especially if someone I loved was in any sort of danger." he said softly, his brown eyes boring into the side of her head.

Angie glanced up at him for a moment, her gaze lingering before she pulled it back down to the forms in her lap.

"So you're saying that if it's a choice between you and them. If you start a scuffle and someone points a gun at someone you love… you take the bullet?" she asked slowly, her pen signing her polished flowing signature, eyes still away from him as they talked.

" _Absolutely_ I take the bullet – no questions asked." he replied.

The words sent a chill through Angie's body as she looked up and into his brown eyes which were soft and sincere, yet completely serious.

"You seriously mean that? You would put yourself in that position?"

Their eyes still locked, Derek replied. "When you love someone, and their life is at stake, I just figured you do anything you have to do to save their life…"

"Anything?" Angie asked quietly, their eyes still locked on one another.

"…including give up my own…" he replied, smiling at her softly.

Angie smiled back at him, studying his expression. In that moment, a feeling washed over her that she had experienced many times before with Derek, reminding her of his true nature. His words had managed to convey a sense of protection that she had longed for all her life, despite her constant independence and hard-headed nature. It forced her to recall the many times during their professional relationship that he managed to show her such a thing, his unwillingness to abandon her at even her worst slowly chipping away at her walls and helping her to realize that relying on someone wasn't so bad, after all. He was a good guy to rely on, and although she had to keep him on track professionally quite a bit, somewhere inside her knew that if she should ever truly need him, he would be there.

Shaking herself out of it, she turned back to her paperwork quietly once more, but not before another glance his way.

"That's quite an amazing set of values you hold, Derek…" she said, nodding her head. "You're a great guy."

Derek's heart skipped a beat and his cheeks flushed as he turned down to his own paperwork, smiling as he began to fill out the forms once more.

"Yeah, I figure that the whole 'valuing a human life' thing should also extend outside of the OR..." he joked, chuckling as she shook her head with a giggle. "But seriously, that guy was a great guy. I admire anyone who would take a bullet for his pregnant wife... it's amazing."

Angie smiled. "I agree with you."

"I mean, of course I hope that I'll never be in a situation like that. But in this world, it's always important to think of these things once in awhile." Derek admitted, as Angie nodded along.

The two of them chatted back and forth sparingly about unrelated topics as they continued to fill out their paperwork, passing the hours until their stacks had finally whittled down to nothing.

"Ahhh..." Derek exhaled, stretching out his arms and legs in front of him before he rested back onto the couch. His neck extended to rest his head back against the soft fabric, eyes slowly closing in the resultant exhaustion. It had unexpectedly become quiet next to him as well, and curious, he opened his eyes and cocked his head over to the right to see Angie resting her elbow on her knee, her hand holding her forehead with a pained expression.

"Angie, what's wrong?" he asked, placing a hand on her back unwittingly.

"Oh, I'm fine, Derek - thank you. I just have a headache, that's all." she replied, turning towards him to note that his face was full of concern.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, hand still softly settled on her back.

Noting his touch Angie smiled, pausing slightly before she looked away from him. She knew the perfect way to get even with him for his lingering stares earlier was to watch him turn purple again, and she knew just how to do it.

Derek watched her with confusion as she reached for a pillow and fluffed it,before placing it on his lap. He didn't have time to think it through before she leaned his way, head settling on the pillow while her legs curled up on the couch in an attempt to get comfortable. He felt his heartbeat skyrocket in rate, face hot enough to cook an egg on as he stared downward dumbfounded while she shuffled herself around. Her hand came to rest on his leg as she sighed contentedly, her eyes now closed with a happy smirk on her lips. He sat in shock momentarily as he thought of how to handle such a thing, incredibly happy, but also suddenly well aware of his lack of experience with these sorts of things.

Her eyes popped open and turned up to him with a giggle at his panicked expression. "Is it okay if I just lay here for a few minutes? I just need for my head to stop throbbing and I didn't want to kick you off the couch." she said, a pained smile on her face.

"Oh, uh... no, of c-course not, Angie – that's... uh, perfectly fine. Just… stay there, as uh, long as y-you want… I'll wake you up if anything happens..."

She flashed another small smile at him, slightly guilty for scaring the hell out of him but happy to be laying down.

"Thank you Derek – I appreciate it."

And with that, she turned on her other side to face his stomach, eyes closing gently as her whole body relaxed. Gently, Derek reached back and grabbed a blanket to pull over her, a small happy sigh coming from her before she drifted off to sleep. He turned the TV on quietly but didn't watch it for a second – someone much more important had his attention now, and not much else could change that.

Waiting until he was sure she was asleep, Derek brushed a small piece of hair from her face, heart beating tenderly as his hand came in contact with her soft skin. He rested an arm across her waist and gently wound it around to her back, eyes stuck on her all the while. She was gorgeous and he couldn't help but admit it, though it came with a drawback. The combination of the lack of stress in their daily work and increased time spent together had him thinking a lot more about the two of them, specifically how at times the sexual tension had been hard to ignore. They had been partners and close friends for awhile now but hadn't tipped that scale quite yet, something that was likely both a blessing and a curse. Some days Derek thought that she liked him and others he wasn't sure because she was incredibly hard to read. All he knew for sure was that he was too nervous to put himself out there, both for fear of rejection and afraid that it would ruin the great partnership they had built together.

He put a stop to the thoughts consuming him, settling back into the moment. The future didn't matter because for now, he was happy right where he was at.

Derek continued to watch TV while periodically looking down at her sleeping form, tufts of her exhaled breath warm on his stomach. Every now and again he would gently run fingers through her soft hair, smiling as he entertained thoughts that the woman sleeping on him was more than she really was. He reveled in one of these rare moments…

…before of course, Tyler had to go and ruin it.

"Hey Derek, we ha— oh. _Oh…_ "

The blonde surgeon smiled as he strolled into the room to see Angie laying in Derek's lap with her face turned in towards his stomach, his arm hugged around her protectively. Derek's gaze shot up to his friend and yet another time that day he turned beet red, fully prepared for the barrage of shit he was about to hear for this. But although Tyler was smiling in the moment, he could instantly recognize that something was off.

"Hey – I am _so_ going to grill you about this later, but Sidney sent me. An emergency patient is being transferred here in about ten minutes – stab wound. They need you in the OR immediately."

Derek's eyes widened as he moved to stand, weight preventing him from doing so as he remembered the sleeping nurse in his lap.

"I'll be there in two seconds." he whispered, sad that he had no other option but to bring this moment to an end.

As Tyler exited the room Derek sat up slightly. Fully expecting that the exchange would have stirred her awake, he looked down to see that she was fully passed out, snuggled comfortably in his arms. A nervous hand softly rubbed her cheek before moving to cradle her face in his hand, noting that she still did not move. In a move that he couldn't decide was bold or stupid, he leaned forward and gently planced a kiss on her forehead, pulling back with the fear of God that she would wake and beat the everlasting crap out of him. His fears abated, however, when he saw a smile trickle onto her face, eyes blinking a few times before they opened fully. The smile grew when she saw his face hovering over hers, now mirroring the one that had overtaken him as well.

"Hmm… hi, Derek." she said sleepily. She could feel the mark that his timid kiss had left and let her smile grow, enjoying the moment that being vulnerable had allowed her to experience.

"Hey, Ang. I hate to wake you up, but we've got an emergency patient that's ten minutes away. Stab wound – we've got to go prep."

Angie instantly shot up though she remained on the couch facing Derek, mind fully awake but body unable to follow along. Rubbing her face gently she smiled at him once more before standing to straighten her uniform, expression changing to her baseline determination.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's go," she said, turning away with him in hot pursuit. She silently hoped that later they could pick up where things had left off, though it quickly left her mind as she prepared for what awaited them.

-o-

Sidney had beat the pair to the OR prep room and immediately upon their arrival, he explained the situation while they started to scrub.

"They should be here any minute, Dr. Stiles. Jane Doe, age unknown, stab wound to the abdomen. The knife is still there, for the paramedics fear that it is close to or has already knicked the abdominal aorta. They've immobilized her for the time being."

"That's awful." Angie said, scrubbing up her arms with a small soapy brush in the sink next to Derek. They traded a lingering glance that proved the moment from before had not quite ended, though professionalism quickly took its place.

"So, one wrong move and we potentially slice the aorta?" Derek asked, shutting off the water and shaking the excess water from his arms, holding them up above his waist to maintain sterility.

"Yes, Derek – that's what I'm saying. You'll obviously need to exercise the utmost caution here, and if need be, use the Healing Touch – this is a very delicate procedure." Sidney replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Just then the paramedics gently wheeled the woman into the OR, Derek spotting the handle of what looked like a dagger from the prep room. A shudder lanced through him as he noted the intricate gold detail on the handle, before snapping out of it to enter the room. He followed Angie through the doors and both of them began to quickly gown with the help of the surgical technician.

"We need to anesthetize her first, Derek…" Cybil said, pulling out a syringe before an unidentified man busted into the room.

"Sir!" Sidney said, stepping in front of him. "This is a sterile area for authorized personnel only. You'll have to wait outside!"

"But, that's my wife!" he cried, visibly shaken.

"Wait!" Cybil interjected. "Don't take him out yet! Sir, does your wife have any allergies to medications?"

"Um, no – not that I know of… she's never had surgery. Please, just let me stay here. Let me stay with her." he sobbed.

Derek frowned, heart filling with sympathy for the man as emotions overtook him, the woman he loved lying in front of him with a dagger buried to the handle. Like the empathetic person he was Derek tried to imagine the terror her husband must have felt and came up empty, until a flash of green appeared in front of him, his eyes now locked with Angie's. For a fleeting moment a twisted part of his mind put his assistant in the body of the woman in front of him, shuddering when he identified how he would feel should something happen to someone he care about so much. Attempting to shake the thought from his mind he looked over to the patient's husband, who was still grappling to get past Sidney.

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't stay here. Come with me and you can wait right outside." Sidney said as he pulled the man towards the door, who gave in and reluctantly obeyed him.

Derek's eyes turned from the man back to Angie, who locked eyes with him briefly before they both looked down at their patient. In the short time they had been distracted Cybil had induced and intubated the patient, and she was ready to go. Derek looked at Angie once more and with her supportive nod, he stretched a hand out in front of her.

"Scalpel."


	3. Asystole

Derek, Angie, and their staff surveyed the damage. A medium sized dagger had been buried in the woman's flesh, the black handle sporting a very unique design.

"I don't think I've ever seen something this intricate in my life." Derek started, lowering his top half to inspect the design more closely.

"It looks to me like a dagger for some sort of martial arts, Doctor." Angie replied, catching Derek's attention while she continued. "The studio where I go for Aikido has other classes where people use things such as this, and the handle to this one looks like it could be for that."

"We're ready for incision." Cybil interjected, organizing her supplies at the head of the bed. "Work your magic, Stiles."

Cybil lowered herself into a chair behind the patient's head, fingers twirling and fiddling with knobs on the anesthesia machine. She looked at the monitors and began charting on the computer in front of her, paying no attention to Derek any longer. He had been concerned that something disastrous would happen during her transfer to the OR table, but now that she was anesthetized, he allowed himself to breathe a momentary sigh of relief.

After a deep breath, Derek raised his head to look at Angie, who was still extending her hand toward him with the scalpel and raised eyebrows, waiting for him to accept it. Her stare was more loving than he was used to and lingered once again on him, allowing his mind to briefly skip back to the moment they shared in their office - even in the presence of a woman who was millimeters away from death. He broke their stare to reach forward and pull the scalpel into his possession, attention shifting to the wound in front of him.

"Okay, from what I can see here…" Derek started, speaking out loud while he moved around to get a panoramic view of the entry wound. "It looks from the curve in the handle that the edge is facing inward, but because we don't know the curvature, it's hard to say what it's in contact with…"

Derek placed the blade of the scalpel on the edge of the wound and pulled it downward just slightly, he and Angie peering down into the wound to attempt to see the width of the blade.

"Because of the position of the dagger and the size of its entrance wound, I would say that the knife most likely has a slight curve to it, though it looks like the width of the blade stays uniform." Angie said gently, still examining the sight in front of her. "You should probably lengthen the cut laterally so we can pull the blade away from her vasculature and try to get a better look."

Derek nodded, changing his grip on the scalpel to get ready. Angie drained the excess blood around the area and he placed the blade at the far corner of the incision. His pointer finger pressed down and slowly pulled toward himself, layers of skin and subcutaneous tissue separating underneath him as he calmly lengthened the incision. However, calm quickly turned to panic as he heard commotion from the head of the bed in his periphery, followed by a uncharacteristic shriek from the woman working up there.

"Derek!" Cybil shouted, causing him to whip his head in her direction, startled. "She's having a reaction to the anesthesia, you need to do something, FAST! You!-" she yelled, pointing at the circulating nurse, "page overhead for anesthesia, STAT!"

Derek shot his gaze over to Cybil, who was moving a mile a minute and unable to pay attention to him.

"What do you mean she's—"

"End-tidal is through the roof, tachycardia, nothing is working – I think it might be early MH!"

"Malignant hyperthermia?!" Angie yelped, her head flipping between Cybil and Derek who both looked panicked. "You can't be serious!"

"Does this look like something I would joke about?!" Cybil fired back, ripping the oxygen tank from the anesthesia machine and beginning to hand-ventilate the patient with an ambu bag, other hand pushing sedatives. Quickly a team of people from the anesthesia department descended on the room to assist her, commotion growing."

"We can't afford to stop, though!" Derek shouted back, now required to yell to be heard over the commotion. "This is literally life or death, here!"

"We'll handle it, just get going! Get that knife out before there's damage and you can slow down then!" Cybil replied, working quickly with her team to administer medications and attempt to cool the patient to the best of their ability. Derek quickly shot his chocolate eyes downward as his hands dropped the scalpel onto Angie's tray, one hand bracing itself on the table and the other on the handle of the dagger as another shout spurred his movements forward.

"You're running out of time, Stiles!" Cybil warned, fumbling furiously with her monitor as it beeped out of control. "She's going to burn through this paralytic in no time – we can't keep up!"

"I'm going to pull toward me and try to slide it out – just keep pressure on the opening, okay?!" Derek nearly shouted at the assistant who was only inches from him, pressure of the situation getting the better of his nerves.

"On it!" she confirmed, reaching to her tray to grab giant handful of gauze. She placed it at site of the incision as Derek wrapped his other hand around the blade, pulling back and towards himself. He watched as Angie's green eyes widened even further behind her surgical goggles as a screaming pitch fired through the room, causing an instant panic.

"We're in V-fib!" Cybil yelled, sending one of the anesthetists in a mad dash toward the crash cart toward the back of the room. She quickly returned with the defibrillator and rolled it next to Angie, who turned the dials to the correct charge, prepared to shock the patient on Derek's call.

Briefly her eyes flickered downward to the woman in front of them, who was still tightly held down by a head brace and bondings down at her feet. The gravity of life or death procedures was never lost on Angie, always bewildered by the fact that patients could lay motionless on the table, completely unaware of the state of peril they were in.

"No, Angie… wait!" Derek yelled just as she dropped the gauze pile and pulled the paddles into her hands. "She convulses from that shock and the knife transects her whole aorta. We've got to get it out, NOW! Put pressure on the wound for me, let's GO!" he barked, the paddles clattering back on the crash cart as Angie nearly threw them to jump straight at his orders. "I can't just rip this thing towards me – I have to be careful, we still have no clue what this thing looks like!"

Feeling the all-too-familiar pressure to move quickly with limited time, Derek activated his Healing Touch, casting a thick hue all about the room as his colleagues still worked through the emergency, but slowed considerably. Both hands on the knife Derek turned immediately to the monitor, the sickening tracing of ventricular fibrillation pushing him to move as fast as possible – she needed defibrillation urgently, but definitely didn't need to exsanguinate in the process.

One hand held the handle of the dagger steady as Derek drove the fingers of his other hand into the woman's abdomen just next to the sharp side of the blade to search for its end. Locating it would allow him to better discern its shape, and hopefully, the leverage from holding it at both ends would assist him in swiftly pulling it back and out of her.

There wasn't much time left before sustained cardiac arrest would result in massive damage to the patient's body, and then it would be all over. As his fingers maneuvered through muscle, tissues, organs, fat, and blood to reach the bottom of the knife, his eyes finally spotted the abdominal aorta, the tip of the curved blade resting against it – intact, but with a slight nick on its wall.

"Man, they weren't kidding…" Derek muttered to himself.

Sweat trickled down his forehead under the hot light and his brain throbbed, a sign that his Healing Touch was quickly giving way. All he had to do was get to the bottom of the knife and pull it away from the artery before something devastating happened, though he wouldn't be so lucky.

"She's vomiting!" he heard Cybil yell from his left, her suction turned on as she attempted to clear it from the patient's mouth.

The world around him suspended in slow motion, Derek just watched as the abdominal muscles around his hands slowly tensed, the patient's body beginning to move. And just at that moment, the Healing Touch expired: half because of his exhaustion, and half due to the shock of it breaking what little concentration he had left. With his fingers just grazing their destination, Derek watched in real time as the woman's abdomen suddenly spiked upward. To his horror, he had watched as the convulsion pressed the aorta up against the blade of the knife, slicing into it before he could even think to react.

"DAMN IT! DRAIN, NOW!" he screamed at Angie, who practically threw the drain at him with eyes wide and panicked, blood now pouring from the patient's abdomen faster than the suction could collect it. It gushed out and over the sides of the bed, covering Derek and Angie with it as they frantically attempted to take control of the situation.

"What happened?!" Cybil yelled, noting Derek's normal stoic control had given way to panicked movements as he attempted to keep up.

"It transected the fucking aorta!" he yelled as he pulled the dagger back and out, pitching it over his shoulder and to the floor. "Hemostats!" he called out, Angie slapping them into his palm as she reached over and held the drain for him.

"We need a shock or she's done, Derek!" Cybil said, her words falling on deaf ears as Derek tried to concentrate.

"Dammit, don't do this… Don't DO THIS! You hear me?! You're NOT going to die – NOT LIKE THIS!" he snarled at his patient, attempting to find the aorta through an insane amount of blood in order to clamp off the flow and try to repair the damage. His actions remained quick and urgent but he began to feel an energy change in the room as his coworkers slowed their motions and conceded that no more could be done. Somewhere deep inside Derek knew it was all over – that she had likely already lost her entire blood volume – but he continued to work until he heard Angie's voice, soft and shaky.

"Derek. She's in asystole."

Derek's heart sank like a weight as he shot his gaze to the monitor, wishing that it was still screeching instead of boating that monotonous tone that chilled him from the inside out.

"No, there's got to be something I can do – the knife's out! I'm not done!"

"Derek." Angie repeated quietly, tears in her eyes as she stared at him, his attention slowly lifting toward her. Everyone in the OR remained motionless, watching Derek as his and Angie's eyes did silent battle with one another, until he finally dropped his shoulders in defeat. Gently, he removed his hands from the patient, dropping his tools onto the tray that Angie had waiting with a loud clatter that rang through the otherwise silent room. He took a step back and removed his scrub cap, shaking his messy brown hair loose before casting a quick glance up to the observation deck, where Sidney watched solemnly, a look of sympathy evident. The staff all recognized that they were powerless against the preceding chain of events, though losing a patient still cut through every one of them like the bloody knife that now laid on the ground.

Derek pulled down his mask until it hung loosely around his neck, all occupants of the room still watching him. He looked at Angie who was crying out of sympathy for the woman and for those who had worked so hard to save her, especially Derek – she knew from the few times it had happened to them that nobody took this harder or more personally than him. She could already see it in his eyes as they remained on her, before he cast his glance over to the clock at his left.

One by one he ripped off his bloody gloves and threw them forcefully on the ground, dropping his hands to his sides as he clenched them into fists.

"Time of death… 20:51" he muttered.

Silence filled the room for only a brief second before it was broken again.

"Son of a FUCKING BITCH!"

In an uncommon display of rage for the normally reserved surgeon, he screamed the above statement before one of his balled up hands cut underneath the cool steel of the surgical tray and pitched it off of the stand and onto the floor, tools scattering everywhere with an earsplitting crash. The staff in the room immediately jumped back except Angie, who only started to cry harder, heart full of anguish for her doctor in a moment she knew ripped him apart inside. Without looking at anyone, Derek paced briskly towards the door with his hands still balled into fists and punched the light wood in front of him, sending the swinging door flying into the wall behind it with a loud bang.

Standing in silence for a few moments, the remaining staff of the OR began to clean up the mess, all of them out of words to say. Angie turned her head up to Sidney who motioned silently towards the door, suggesting she go after Derek. She nodded in understanding and after cleaning up a few things, Angie walked slowly out of the doors of the OR and cut the corner into the prep room, where Derek had already peeled off his coverings and was scrubbing viciously at his hands and arms with his back to her.

He shut off the water and rested his hands on either side of the sink, hanging his head.

"If I would've worked faster… if I would've been paying more attention and I hadn't let the Healing Touch lapse… maybe she'd still be alive."

Angie's eyes widened as she paced slowly into the room, removing her gloves before fiddling with her fingers.

"How did you know it was me? I didn't make any noise and I'm not wearing heels today…"

He spun around to look at her with a look of failure plastered on his face, robbing it of its usual happy-go-lucky style.

"Had a feeling." he said, attempting a smirk. Just as she knew how failure got to him, he was aware that she would come after him every time to console him in a way that only she could.

"Derek, this wasn't your fault." she said. "What happened in there was the most unlikely chain of events I've ever seen… that I think could ever happen."

He looked her in the eyes, nodding slightly to her explanation as she continued to talk, pacing towards him. If there was anyone in his life that would call him out on his fault it was her, and every time she admitted it was out of his reach he found himself able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I mean, what are the chances you have a knife pushing against an artery, the patient reacts to anesthesia, goes into V-fib, and her convulsions from vomiting cause the knife to sever the artery. We would've had to have been doing six things simultaneously!" she said, chortling out of sheer amazement, which he returned.

"I guess you're right, Angie. It still..."

"Sucks? I know Derek – but don't let it get you down too much. You did everything right, and stopped me from making a huge mistake in the process. It just couldn't be helped."

Now Angie was standing right in front of him, staring up and into his eyes, which returned her gaze through pain still swam behind them.

He forced a smile to her. "Thank you, Angie. Thank you for your hard work and support, and for coming to check on me as always. But, I don't think this will be going away for a while."

"I don't expect it to, Derek." she said, looking at the ground. "Just – you can, uh… talk to me, if you know, you need to…"

Derek watched and couldn't help but smile as Angie stammered and blushed right in front of him, her eyes still on the floor as she nervously shifted under her own weight.

"I appreciate it Angie. The same goes for you – it's never easy when we lose someone."

"I know." she said with a nod. "I obviously wish things were different, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still proud of you. You're a wonderful doctor, but sometimes things are just out of our hands."

She looked up at him again and smiled, their gaze unusually intense. Angie felt the same shift in their dynamic as earlier in the day, eyes unable to break from his as they stared at one another deeply. The attempt to comfort him had quickly changed into her realizing that she needed him in that moment as bad as he needed her. And so, against the wishes of her mind, Angie felt herself rise onto her tiptoes, putting herself face-level with Derek. She took note of his nervous expression and searched it for a sign to stop, though she could not find one. What she could see, however, was the growing blush on his cheeks and she smiled internally at it.

Derek, soaking this in, simply stood frozen in front of her and watched her like a hawk. He gripped the sink as hard as could and leaned his whole weight against it so that his legs wouldn't give out from under him, mind racing while she moved in.

Angie could feel his warm breath on her face as she grew closer, his hair gently tickling her forehead as the space between them closed. She reached her right arm up first and wound it around his neck, followed shortly by her left, though her eyes never left his. A tingle rocketed through her body under the feel of his strong hands abandoning the sink in favor of slowly grasping onto her hips, using the leverage to pull her up and closer into him in a move that finally cemented that he wanted this too.

The two of them traded a small smile before their eyes gently closed, lips just centimeters away. After years of working together and all the times they had separately thought of this moment, Derek and Angie were finally going to find out what it would be like break the barrier of their professional relationship…

…until…

"Stiles, you in here?"

The hands gripping Angie's hips firmly pressed her down and away from him as she quickly unhooked her arms from his neck and put space between them. Sidney stepped into the room just in time to see the surgical duo standing next to each other with their eyes down on the ground, frustration on their faces and both of them red as tomatoes. Sidney raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the sight, but quickly changed pace.

"Stiles, you need to go talk to her husband." he said solemnly, before chuckling again at the state of the pair in front of him. They both looked up at his inappropriate timing with hesitance, knowing what was coming before it even left his mouth.

"You know, the prep room isn't a very romantic place – why do you think that you two have a couch in your office? Sure as hell isn't there for feng-shui…" he said with a laugh as he turned on his heel and walked out.

Derek sighed and shook his head at Sidney's comment, silently cursing him for adding another layer to the already awkward moment. Today had been bad luck for unwanted interruptions, and Derek was forced to concede that if it had already been blown twice, he was unlikely to receive another chance.

Angie looked at him bashfully, playing with her hands again.

"Um… I guess, you should… uh…"

"Yeah." he interjected, rubbing the back of his head. Angie smiled at him and began to walk towards the door, stopping in her tracks when his voice called out to her.

"Wait, Angie."

Maybe he wouldn't receive another chance, but he sure as hell could try to create one himself.

Angie had been reluctant to leave in the first place, thankful to hear his voice as she turned around and her eyes fixated on Derek's smile.

"I know it's late – but do you want to get something to eat after this? I could really use some comfort food and someone to, um… talk to, right now."

Angie smiled, nodding. "Of course. I'll meet you back at the office."

With that she turned and walked from the room, leaving Derek behind to finish the job. Delivering bad news was always the part of his job he dreaded the most, perfectionist in him unable to cope well with the feeling of letting anyone down. Though Dr. Kasal had always cautioned against it, Derek couldn't help but get attached to the people he treated, caring about their well-being as much as he would care for those he loved.

Derek had barely made it a step into the waiting room before being rushed by his patient's husband, startled as he immediately asked for an update.

"Dr. Stiles - my Katherine… is she alright?"

Derek sighed, motioning for the man to sit down next to him. He attempted to wipe emotion from his face as best as possible for this talk, though pain was evident in his eyes as he began to explain how they had lost the woman this man loved.

"Sir, the dagger was lodged right next to the abdominal aorta, which is the largest artery in the body. When we were attempting to remove it, she suffered an unexpected reaction to her anesthetic, and it caused her some serious complications."

"She… she was allergic? I had no i-idea… I mean, she's never had surgery in her life!" he exclaimed, beginning to tear up. "Oh, Katherine…"

Derek clenched his teeth, trying to prevent his own emotions from showing through. "I know – there was nothing that any of us could've done to prevent that – she needed to be put under."

The man nodded. "So, she had an allergic reaction, how long will it take her to rebound from that?" he asked, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Derek was finding it harder and harder to press on with the conversation without letting onto her fate before he could explain himself.

"Sir, when she began to convulse and vomit, the movement was just enough to jerk the knife in the wrong direction."

Derek watched as the gleam in Jack's eyes disappeared, replaced by a look of terror.

"…Doctor, what do you mean the 'wrong direction'?"

"It severed the artery, and the damage was irreparable. I'm so sorry, but there was nothing we could do. We… we lost her."

Derek watched as Jack's eyes shot around the room, searching it for anything to make the situation better. "No, please… please, Doctor. You can't… y-you can't be serious! No! I won't LET YOU!"

He dropped to the ground onto his knees as sobs overtook him, rocking himself back and forth and whispering his wife's name as he struggled to try to breathe. Derek gently knelt down next to him, surprised when Jack pulled him down by his scrubs and began crying into them. Uncomfortable but sympathetic, Derek simply wrapped an arm around the devastated man's shoulders, trying to calm him as best he could before he was knocked flat on his butt.

Standing above him was Jack, tears streaming down his face but a look of unimaginable fury in his eyes.

"YOU! You SAID you would save her, and you DIDN'T!" he choked out, movements erratic and panicked as he paced around in a circle.

Derek shakily rose to his feet and tried stepping to the man, who shoved a firm hand into Derek's chest to keep him away.

"No! Don't come near me! You call yourself a doctor?! You killed my WIFE, you FUCKING BASTARD!"

The shout had caused everyone in the immediate area to take notice of the situation as Derek became embarrassed. He knew from experience that he needed to let Jack's grief run its course, and that attempting to calm him down would be unsuccessful in a time like this. However, he began to worry as the panic worsened, the man's breathing growing more rapid as his face and neck turned an unhealthy shade of crimson. After the outburst Derek had the brief intention of walking away, but couldn't bring himself to leave the man that needed someone so badly.

He watched as Jack gripped onto his shiny bald head and held it tightly, walking back and forth with gasping, shuttering breaths that grew quicker and shallower by the minute.

Eyes still on Jack, Derek lifted the microphone up to his mouth, pressing the button to activate his radio. "This is Stiles. I need someone to the first floor OR waiting room with an oxygen tank and a gurney, stat."

"Mr. Corrigan, you need to stay with me here. You're breathing too quickly – please try to slow down." Derek said, pacing towards him again bravely though he was shoved back once more, this time with much less force.

"No… Don't come near me, you… you.."

Derek's mouth dropped open as Jack's eyes rolled back into his head, the six-foot two-inch, 185 pound man falling forward into Derek's waiting arms. He barely caught him, quickly lowered him onto the ground, and rolled him to his back, just as Angie came racing around the corner with another floor nurse, the gurney and oxygen tank in hand. Both nurses stood in shock at the situation as Derek knelt down on the floor and checked the man's pulse, before he turned to the two of them.

"I need the tank, now!" he barked, sending the nurse flying over to assist him while Angie radioed for backup. Quickly the other floor doctors came rushing around the corner to help Derek, who gave them the scenario. Together they loaded Jack onto the gurney and the other team wheeled him away, leaving Derek and Angie alone together.

Sinking back into the plush waiting room chair, Derek rested his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands, breathing in and out slowly to trying to avoid losing it. He calmed slightly when he felt Angie take a seat next to him, a soothing hand coming to rest on his back and tracing over it lovingly. Within minutes his urge to cry had faded into exhaustion, her touch working to put him at ease. Gently, he released his head from his hands and cocked it to the side to look at her, her bright green eyes shining with worry and sympathy. He smiled just barely at her before closing his eyes.

"This day sucks."

She nodded. "I'm so sorry, Derek. I know that must have been hard."

He was silent for a moment, though his eyes opened again. After a moment of eye contact, he smirked back at her.

"Thank you, Angie. This is just what I needed."

"Any time."

There was another short silence between the two.

"If you want, we can do dinner another night. You need to get some rest." Angie spoke, barely audible.

Slowly, Derek sat up and heaved a big sigh, his body instinctively rotating to face her.

"I think after all that's happened today, I need to spend time with someone who makes me happy."

Angie blushed at the rare display of honesty, feeling honored to be the person to help him through life.

"I don't know where we're possibly going to have dinner though – it's pretty late now." he said, bringing up his wrist to check his watch.

They both pondered for a moment before Angie rose to her feet, smiling as she held out her hand. Derek looked back at her hesitantly, eyes darting between her and her hand with a stare that made it clear he wasn't budging until she offered an explanation.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, though the smile never dropped. "How about this: we stop by your house on the way home to pick up a change of clothes, we swing by the store, and head over to my place. I'll whip up some steaks and we'll buy a ton of junk food. We'll relax in comfy clothes together, eat, talk, and watch a movie. I know it's late, but it's not like either of us are going to be able to sleep anyway." she said, stepping forward to push her extended hand further toward him.

Derek smiled and placed his hand into hers, allowing her to help him to his feet.

"Sounds perfect. Thank God for that day off tomorrow, huh?" he chuckled.

Angie nodded and began to walk ahead, though she slowed to a stop when the hand in hers squeezed tightly from behind her. She cast a glance over her shoulder just in time to watch Derek intertwine his fingers with hers as he stepped to her side, smile and blush on his face that was identical to hers.

Hand in hand was how the pair walked to their office, stopping briefly to grab their belongings before leaving for the night.

The day had started to come around, but unfortunately, it would be short lived.

Their troubles were just beginning.


	4. Visitor

Derek blinked his tired eyes open, squinting in the bright light of the morning sun. He attempted to roll over, confused when he found himself with very limited space. Lying perfectly straight with his arms tucked tightly into his chest, he noted how close he was to the edge of the bed and how his unconscious body was attempting to take up as little space as possible. Tired brain attempting to work through the odd situation, he registered a weight to his side that would explain why he wasn't taking up the whole bed like normal. Messy hair fell in front of his eyes as he picked his head up and turned it toward the middle of the bed, doing a mental double-take in the process.

There, curled up next to him and sound asleep was Angie, her arm and leg draped softly over him. He watched her with wide eyes as she breathed slowly in and out, furiously trying to figure out why he was waking up next to her, until his position on the bed got the better of him.

WHACK-

THUD-

"Unnngh... dammit…"

In his surprise, Derek had managed to fall off the side of Angie's bed and cracked his head on her nightstand on the way down. After the hit he remained face down, holding his forehead and quietly groaning at the instant throbbing it produced. He became upset when he heard Angie shuffle in bed above him, as the last thing he wanted to do was wake her.

"D…Derek?" she asked groggily, her bed-headed hair spilling over the side of the bed, her chin propped up on the edge of the mattress. She peered down at him from above, one of her green eyes still closed from the sunlight. "Are you okay Derek?... What happened?"

He rolled onto his back with a hand still on his forehead, an embarrassed but pained look on his face.

"Uh, I kinda fell off the bed…" he stammered out sheepishly, dropping the hand from his forehead to show her the damage.

She sprung up quickly as she surveyed it, tired eyes now wide open in surprise.

"Oh no, Derek..!" she exclaimed, groggily climbing out of bed to position herself on the floor next to him.

Derek felt heat creep across his face as Angie began to inspect the damage, fingers coming up to rest gently on her lips. Her face hovered just inches away from his and while he was looking directly in her concerned eyes, she was distracted by the immediate lump that had formed on Derek's forehead.

"Does it hurt when I…"

"…ow! Angie…!"

"…Sorry."

Scratching the top of her head briefly, Angie she sat back on her legs and then moved into a crouching position, steadied on the balls of her feet. Her hand reached forward and came to rest around the back of Derek's neck, very gently pulling to help sit him up. Once he was upright, Angie remained planted in front of him as she inspected the bump again, fingers gently grazing it.

"I feel dizzy." he admitted with a soft chuckle.

"I'm sure you do. Looks like round one goes to my nightstand, eh?" she asked, giggling at him.

Suddenly, Angie felt a sneeze coming on. "aaaCHOO!" she squeaked, the force of it knocking her off her balance and crashing forward into Derek, who caught her in his arms easily though he immediately turned a bright shade of red. She slowly picked her head up to look at him, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment. He was so warm and it felt comforting to be in his arms, mind reminding her of where they had left off yesterday. She briefly entertained the thought of curling up into him further before he broke her train of thought with a stammering response.

"Uh… B-bless you…" Derek said, to which she half smiled before rocketing to her feet.

"Thank you, Dr. Sti—Derek! I mean, Derek… I'm sorry, let's uh… go get some ice, for your head." she said, extending her hand to him.

Derek laughed inwardly as he saw her blush and stammer, her discomfort cute to him for reasons that he didn't quite understand. Nonetheless he took her hand and rose to his feet with her help, following behind her as they walked to the kitchen.

Derek and Angie exited the bedroom, the former still holding his head though a dazed smile adorned his face while he surveyed the remnants of their night together. Movie rental boxes and candy wrappers were scattered everywhere, crumpled blankets on the couch reminding him of where they had sat and talked for hours. The kitchen was cluttered with plates and cookware from the dinner she had whipped up the night before, memories of the perfectly cooked steak still able to water Derek's mouth. Still dressed in her hot pink sweatpants and grey fitted t-shirt, Derek watched from afar as she reached into her freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas.

"Sit." she instructed, pointing to the chair at the near end of her table.

Derek did as he was told with a smirk, knowing better than to refuse a direct order. The smirk faded quickly, however, into a wince and a loud hiss from behind his clenched teeth as she gently pressed the freezing bag on his rapidly growing bump.

"Sorry." she said, biting her lip sympathetically at him. "But you've got to keep it on… it's already swelling."

"Yeah, I can feel it." he mumbled, watching her out of his left eye as the right one was now obscured by a bag of peas.

Angie looked at him and giggled at his sad state, which deepened his scowl.

"I'm sorry for laughing. You're just… cute, when you're grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy." he chuckled. "I just feel like an idiot."

"You're not an idiot – you're just clumsy." she corrected with a laugh, noting his scowl return in full force.

"Well, Derek…" she started, changing the subject as she sank down into the chair next to him. "Since you were assaulted by my nightstand, it's only right that I take you out for breakfast."

Derek chuckled, shifting the bag on his head. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not really hungry. I never really was a breakfast person. And I'm sure going to eat with this golf ball on my forehead wouldn't exactly be the most wonderful sight to sit across from."

Angie laughed, gaze turning contemplative as she looked at him. "Okay, I have to ask – how did you manage to fall out of bed?" she giggled, eyes wide and shining.

Derek paused, his cheeks turning pink.

"Well, I uh, woke up this morning, and you were, uh… right there. And I didn't really remember even falling asleep last night, so, I um… got surprised, and then bam - on the floor!" he chuckled, stammering out his explanation while she laughed.

"Yeah…" she admitted, twirling her hair around her index finger. "Ever since I can remember, I've been a cuddly sleeper. "

He felt more relaxed now, shifting the peas on his head once more. "Yeah, I noticed that when I woke up with half of you slung over me."

Now it was Angie's turn to blush.

"Well…" she started, a mischievous smirk on her face as she leaned in towards him just a little closer and lulled her voice to a whisper. "Next time, if you want to avoid waking up on the floor, you'll just have to give into my sleep cuddles…"

Derek could have sworn that his face was cooking those peas in the heat that came from his flushed skin, leaving Angie to giggle at how easy it was to mess with him. She stood from her seat and walked over into her bedroom, rustling his hair gently on her way.

Allowing himself to calm down a bit, Derek set down the peas and rose from his chair, strolling over into the bathroom. He closed the door and examined the now frozen bump on his forehead, sighing as he saw it for the first time. Pulling out a small thing bottle of facewash from a basket on the counter, he turned on the water and began to gently clean his skin, careful to avoid the knot in the process. Suddenly, he heard his cell ring on Angie's nightstand.

"Derek!" she called. "Your phone's ringing!"

He paused.

"Will you pick it up, please?" he yelled, his face now full of soap.

Angie walked over to the nightstand and raised the small black phone to her face, noting the caller ID flashing "Tyler Chase" across it.

"Oh, great." she mumbled, flipping it open.

This would surely be good.

"Hello?"

Silence.

_"Uh... Angie, is that you?"_

Angie sighed. "Yes, Tyler… it's me. What's going on?"

_"Why do you have Derek's phone?"_

Unfortunately for her, Angie paused in that moment unsure of what to say. And in her silence Tyler began to laugh, putting the story together himself, incorrect as it may have been.

_"Ohhhh… hahaha! OH, man... that's… Good for you guys!"_

Angie snarled, Derek's phone now in a death grip.

And from the bathroom down the hall, Derek laughed as Angie lost her temper, expletives flowing naturally at the person on the other end of the call.

"Tyler CHASE, I highly suggest that you shut your mouth before I come over there and do it FOR YOU…" she bit.

_"Worth it!"_

"I'm hanging up now!"

" _Wait, don't! I'm sorry! I'm calling because you guys actually need to come up here. Chief told me to call you to let you know that there's an impromptu meeting scheduled in an hour. Don't worry though - you can go back to whatever you were doing after that."_

Derek walked in the room just in time to see a very fed-up Angie pacing back and forth through her room. He leaned in the door frame and crossed his arms, a smirk on his lips. One of the things that would never get old to him was the joy that came from witnessing Angie yell at Tyler – she was just so good at it.

"You listen here, Chase! I meant what I said before - nothing happened! Don't you have something better to do besides behave like a four year old all the time!?"

Derek chuckled as she listened to Tyler's response on the other end, her eyes narrowing into angry slits as her pacing ground to an immediate halt.

"NO! You may NOT talk to him, because I know exactly what you're going to say!"

From the doorway, Derek could hear Tyler cackling on the other end.

"Goodbye, Dr. Chase!" Angie shouted.

_"Wait, Angie! I'm so-"_

Click.

Angie whirled around and jumped back, startled to find Derek in the doorway. Her shock quickly faded as anger took back over, a forced smile on her lips as she held his phone up in the air before tossing it on her bed.

"Do NOT call him…" she said, laughing with a shake of her head.

Angie sat on the edge of her bed and Derek followed, laughs eventually subsiding to make way for a moment of silence.

"We have to go to work for an 'impromptu' meeting." she said softly, to which Derek grumbled and flopped backwards onto the bed.

"I'm starting to think these people don't understand the meaning of an actual day off."

"Pretty much." he groaned. His arm reached over to the nightstand that had greeted him so kindly that morning, fingers pulling his glasses from its surface. He slid them on his face and smiled, a focused Angie replaced by the blurry one he had been staring at all morning. He moved to sit up as Angie turned her gaze toward him, her blonde hair spilling down her shoulders and lightly grazing his arm.

"I guess this means you have to go home and get changed?" she asked, a twinge of sadness in her voice.

"Tch… no way." Derek replied, chuckling. "Impromptu meeting means I wear sweats and there's nothing Sidney can do about it."

Angie giggled. "Well, I guess I'll join you then."

"You. In public. In sweatpants?" he joked in surprise, earning an elbow in the arm from her as he began to laugh.

Angie rose to her feet and strolled into her closet, pulling on a zip-up sweatshirt and pushing the sleeves above her elbows. She swept her hair back and into a cute bouncy ponytail, smiling as she moved back out into her bedroom.

"Let me throw on some make-up, and we'll stop for coffee on the way." she said, eyes meeting his before walking into the bathroom.

"Ah, now you're talking." he said, flopping back onto her bed as he waited.

"Derek?" she called softly after a few minutes, peeking her head out of her bathroom with a smile. He looked over at her with a smirk, eyes abandoning his phone in favor of whatever she had to say.

"Do us both a favor, and stay in the middle of the bed this time – alright?"

She laughed as Derek rolled onto his stomach in the middle of the bed, his loud groans muffled by the mattress.

-o-

"Man – we're lucky we got coffee. There's no other way I would've made it through that." Derek admitted as he and Angie walked out of the conference room to return home.

"Yeah. Also, Tyler is very lucky that Sidney was there, or else I would've hopped across the table and given him something to laugh about…" Angie muttered, thinking of all the snickers and winks that Tyler had sent their way over the course of the meeting.

The pair came to a fork in the hallway in front of them, Angie turning left as Derek simultaneously turned right. They turned around confused at one another, Derek pulling his keys from his pocket and jingling them at her with a questioning stare. He was ready to go out to his car to leave, yet she was walking in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Just to our office real quick, if that's okay? I left my thermos in there yesterday and I don't want it to get moldy."

He followed her with a smile and a nod. Keys already in hand, Derek unlocked the door to their office and pushed it open for her, a smile from her as she strolled in. He stood in the doorway and sipped his coffee while Angie quickly walked over to her desk and collected the thermos, lifting it up to show him with a smile. She sat briefly at her desk and logged onto her work email to check while she was there, and in less than five minutes, she was done.

Turning off her computer monitor, she stood up.

"Okay, I'm ready!" she chirped, to which Derek smiled. He reached forward and turned off the light, moving to stand against the door so that she may pass through.

"Are you hungry yet?" Angie asked, to which Derek chuckled softly.

"Actually, yes. Is that an invitation or are you just trying to make me remember how bad I need to eat?"

Angie giggled back at him, walking towards her doctor. He stood against the open door as she paced towards him slowly, a playful glint in her eyes

"Well, I was thinking… If you didn't have anything else to do on our day off, that maybe..." she said, closing the distance between them. Her hand raised up and settled on his chest, tracing the letters of his college T-shirt while she trailed off, now distracted by the sight in front of her

Derek gulped as she paused, still touching his shirt. Her body had grown so close that he could feel the warmth of her radiating on him, the tension between them again that he so desperately wished to break. This moment had been building long enough, and while Derek was always a respectable and slightly nervous man when it came to women, he found self-control difficult when Angie was being this downright sexy.

"...Y-Yeah?" he asked softly, his voice quivering.

_"Ahem..."_

Derek and Angie's eyes popped open with fear as they locked eyes with one another and then slowly turned to the side. Tyler Chase stood just feet from them with his arms crossed, a big mischievous smile now on his face.

"Well, just the two I was looking for." he quipped, walking in their office and sitting down in Derek's chair.

Derek sighed and reached forward to turn back on the light. "What do you want? We're just leaving."

"Oh, don't worry - this won't take long." he said, resting his hands behind his head with a shit-eating grin. "I just wanted to know what's been going on with you two lately?" he asked, to which both Derek and Angie turned red and exchanged a quick glance.

"Do you have any idea how close you are to death?" Angie threatened, cut off as another occupant entered the room.

"Tyler!" Leslie hissed, walking inside. "I told you to leave them alone!"

"Oh, come on Les – quit being a party pooper and help me get these two to spill it!"

Leslie's brown eyes had a glint of remorse in them, but it quickly disappeared as she smiled at Tyler and then turned back to her coworkers, unable to resist participating in gossip if she tried.

"So, Derek… Tyler told me that Angie answered your phone this morning … is it true?!"

Derek moved over to the couch where Angie was now seated, flopping down next to her with a loud huff.

"Might as well get comfortable…" he muttered, to which she scoffed.

"Come on!" Tyler prodded. "You guys are cornered now. We know there's something going on between you, so give it up!"

"Nothing is going on!" Angie snapped, watching out of the corner of her eye as Derek's face flashed a bit of disappointment. She hadn't lied, as distractions like this were the _exact_ reason that statement was true. Noting this, she continued. "And even if there was, what makes you think we'd tell you, of all people?"

"Yeah, everyone knows they'd tell ME first…"

Angie groaned loudly when Cybil entered the room, joining the conversation as she sat down in Angie's chair with her trademark smirk.

"Spill the beans, Stiles – the jig is up!" she said, to which Derek's face got even hotter, now a lovely shade of purple.

"Things must've gotten a little rough last night, ladies." Tyler said, laughing. "Check out that lump on his head!"

"Alright, that's enough! Will you all get out of here?! This our day off and I want to go HOME!"

"…or back to Angie's place." Victor interjected, appearing in the doorway as Derek yelled in frustration.

"Okay, seriously. I hate all of you. Friendships are over, you're all dead to me, please leave." he stated bluntly, laughing slightly out of embarrassment as Angie made threatening gesticulations towards Tyler for starting all of this.

Meanwhile, just outside, the nurses from the department were sent running in panic as a man walked charged down the hallway, closing in on the rag-fest happening in Derek and Angie's office.

"There's no use in resisting this now! We get it: you're both obviously embarrassed. So just tell us what's going on, and we'll leave you alone!" Cybil added, to which Leslie and Tyler nodded.

"Oh, hey!" Victor interjected, rolling his eyes. "I just remembered – I don't care about this…!"

The occupants of the room laughed at him as he turned around and began to walk, immediately slamming into a very tall bald gentleman, who probably could've eaten him in one sitting. Victor backed up a few steps and into the office, seating himself on the armrest next to Angie, his eyes wide with concern.

Ignoring his brush with the bony researcher, the man scanned the room and settled his gaze on Derek and Angie, whose eyes widened with surprise.

"Mr. Corrigan?" Derek asked softly, identifying him quickly. The shock of it kept him still as nervousness began to fester in his stomach. Something was off about his stance, his expression, though Derek couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Dr. Stiles, is it?" he asked in a manner which made Derek shift uneasily.

The hooting and hollering in the room instantly ceased, the employees in the room now quiet. Leslie moved behind Derek's desk to stand next to Tyler, as the man took one step in and began to speak.

"Dr. Stiles… tch, tch, tch…" he started with a vindictive tone, wrath in his eyes directed toward Derek before shooting his glare to Angie. Instinctively, Derek grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him, feeling the tremble in her body as he did so.

"And this…" he continued, noting Derek's action. "…this must be your wonderful assistant nurse. Now that I see her, I realize why you couldn't save Katherine – you were too busy looking at this slut."

Derek hugged Angie tighter as everyone in the room reared back in shock, the surgeon's brown eyes on fire behind his glasses.

His jaw clenched as he seethed through his teeth. "Hey, you bastard! Don't you dare talk about her like that!"

The man chuckled, thoroughly amused by Derek's attempts to shut him up.

"Only calling them as I see them, doctor."

Tyler stood from the chair and motioned for Leslie to sit in it. She obliged and he moved to stand next to her, resting his back against the wall.

"I believe I should be using the bastard comment right back at you, Dr. Stiles." he continued, taking another step into the office, to which everyone in the room backed up just a bit.

"You ruined everything…" he sneered bluntly. "I loved that woman, and thanks to you and your stupid fucking nurse here… she's gone!"

"I know you're upset, but I told you to shut the HELL up!" Derek roared, Angie's arm wrapping around his waist. She stared up at the man with utter contempt though her frame shook uncontrollably. Feeling her begin to tremble again, Derek pulled her in closer to him, gripping her protectively.

"With all due respect, Mr. Corrigan…" Angie started, her voice stern but cracking.

"Was I talking to you, bitch?" he growled.

Derek felt something inside of him snap, no longer able to hold his tongue. "That's IT!" he exclaimed, rising to his feet as Tyler moved away from the wall to assist him. The two surgeons cautiously walked towards the lunatic, uncertainty at his mental state though unwilling to allow this to go on further. "Get the hell out!" Derek hissed, his hands curling into fists.

Angie watched shaking from the couch as Derek and Tyler stood just mere feet from the man, closing in slowly.

"Okay – if you want to play that way, I can trump you both." Corrigan sneered, reaching into his pocket.

Angie, Leslie, Victor, and Cybil all shot back into their seats, eyes wide with horror as the man raised a small, black pistol out of his left jacket pocket and settled the barrel on the center of Derek's forehead. His dark brown eyes glazed over with complete panic as he stood motionless in front of the man, his previous interjections silenced by a move he had never dreamed possible. A stale silence flooded the room as the man and Derek stood together, deadlocked.

He cleared his throat gently. "Now that I have your attention, Dr. Stiles…" he started, smirking evilly. "…we need to have a little chat."


	5. Situation

Tyler quickly backed into the corner of the office, his hands shooting up in the air out of instinct. After a moment they slowly dropped to cover his mouth, unable to move as he watched the new occupant of the room press the barrel of a gun firmly into his best friend's head.

"The next move is yours, doctor. Either you shut the fuck up and let me talk…" he started, pulling the barrel off Derek's head and pointing it over his shoulder at Angie. "…or your little girlfriend here eats lead."

Derek looked over his shoulder at his nurse. She cowered in the corner of the couch, tears flowing freely down her face while her frame trembled.

Taking a deep breath in, Derek slowly stepped back into the trajectory of the gun as Angie watched in disbelief at how far he was willing to go to protect her.

"I'm listening."

Corrigan smiled and chuckled venomously, leaving Derek with the foul odor of his breath as it wafted through the air just inches from the petrified surgeon's face. The gunman stepped closer to him until their noses were nearly touching, his hand dropping to rest the barrel of the gun on Derek's stomach to ensure that he didn't dare move.

"You're going to pay for what you've done." he growled, shoving the barrel forcefully into Derek's flesh.

He fought back a wince.

"…but first, there's something I have to take care of."

Pointing the gun back at Angie, Corrigan backed from the room. His eyes darted back and forth between his victims and the wall outside the office, hand slapping around until he found his target. With a quick flick of his wrist he pulled down the plastic arm to the fire alarm, a loud siren immediately blaring through the speakers above them.

With that move, those still in the building who were unaware of the situation immediately began to evacuate. The fire-proof doors closed themselves and locked.

There was no way out - the six hostages and their attacker were now trapped inside the eastern wing of the second floor of Caduceus USA.

Corrigane leaned in the door and pulled it shut in order to go check the doors on either side of the hallway, his sudden departure leaving the six inside confused.

Derek hastily staggered his nervous body to the couch and dropped next to Angie, who immediately fell into his chest and began to sob.

"Where is he going?" Cybil asked, her hands trembling as she bit her nails nervously.

"Probably to go check the doors. I highly doubt that he would point a gun at everyone and then just leave…" Victor snarled under his breath.

Leslie curled in Tyler's lap, now crying. She noticed Derek cradling Angie in his arms as she cried, something that would have made her smile in delight if not for the gravity of the situation.

"You're going to be okay, Angie." was all Derek could utter to her in a whisper, unsure of the statement himself.

"What if he comes back, Derek?" she sobbed. "What if he really wants to kill us!?"

Tyler held Leslie closer at Angie's words and contemplated the scenario, fear quickly growing.

Derek bit his lip, unsure of how to respond. Everything had been so harsh, so sudden. It was difficult to process the mere fact that the situation was really happening, let alone attempt to figure out how to handle it.

He dropped his head to her ear and lowered his voice to a whisper, bringing privacy to his words.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Ang. I _promise_."

The doctor and nurse broke apart quickly as Corrigan forced his way back into the room, his smile disappearing as he took in the scene before him.

"I'm going to make it very clear right now…" he began, pacing forward. His large hand shot out and grabbed Derek by the front of his shirt, a quick jerk of his arm all it took to yank the surgeon off the couch and toward him. Angie stifled a shriek at the sudden movement, eyes wide as she sat and watched, utterly helpless.

"…that refusing to follow my directions will get you killed."

Tyler's heart dropped into his stomach at the words, his breath hitching in his throat as the gunman's eyes locked on he and Leslie. They remained huddled together in Derek's office chair, slinking down at the glower that passed over them.

"That goes for all of you." he spat, scanning over his hostages one at a time. "Do I make myself clear?"

They all stayed silent, Cybil barely nodding her head.

"I SAID, do I MAKE myself CLEAR?!" he shouted, each of them cowering in surprise at the unexpected change in volume.

Derek, Angie, Cybil, Victor, Tyler and Leslie all muttered a shaky 'yes' with hesitant nods, pulling a slimy smile from Corrigan that made them all instantly sick.

"Stand up. All of you." he ordered. Slowly and with trepidation they complied, six pairs of eyes centered on the gunman as they awaited further instructions.

Pleased with how fast they had snapped at his order, Corrigan smiled and began backing from the room, though never removing his eyes from his targets.

"Now, follow me. One by one."

Derek looked back at Cybil, who nodded reassuringly as he walked out the door, closely followed by the Iron Vixen, Victor, Angie, Leslie, and finally Tyler.

-o-

Sidney Kasal had walked out of Caduceus five minutes prior to the six being dragged out of the office. The situation was still unknown to him and as such, he breathed in the fresh, spring air while making his way to his car, briefcase in hand as he prepared to go home for the day. He stalled upon feeling a buzz in his pocket, hand lazily fishing around for his ringing cell phone.

"This is Kasal."

" _Sidney, I know you have caller ID, and I know you're a Kasal. Stop telling me every time I call."_

Sidney chuckled. "What do you want, Greg?"

" _Besides tormenting you? I just called to see if we were still on for golf this afternoon."_

"We sure are, I'm walking to the car right now. Do you-"

Sidney trailed off as the Caduceus's fire alarm sounded, his eyebrow now raised. He turned around and stared at the building quizzically.

" _Are you going to finish your sentence, or are you trying to hang me in suspense here?"_

"Greg, the fire alarm is going off in Caduceus."

Greg sighed on the other line. _"What do you mean the fire alarm is going off?"_

"Would I say the fire alarm is going off if it wasn't going off, Greg?" he snapped, the elder twin chuckling on the other line. "I have to go see what's going on."

" _Ah, so I'm guessing I should just cancel our tee-time?"_

"I didn't say that." Sidney replied, looking up the height of the building. "I don't think it's anything serious, I mean… I was just in there."

No sooner did the words leave Sidney's mouth than he whirled around to see fire trucks and police cars fly into the service drive of the hospital. They screeched to a halt right in front of Sidney, who was still standing just outside the main entrance, his eyes now scanning the barrage of vehicles that had quickly surrounded the building. His hazel eyes widened behind his glasses as two bomb squad trucks pulled in, Sidney standing in stunned silence as Greg checked his signal to check if his brother had hung up.

A man in uniform walked briskly to Sidney, his expression grave.

"Sir, you're going to need to evacuate the area. We've got a situation here."

Sidney reared back slightly. "I'm not going anywhere until you fill me in on this _situation_ you speak of. I'm the director of Caduceus and I demand to know what's going on!"

Greg remained on the other line, listening intently as his brother bickered with an unidentified subject. He grew nervous as the discussion quickly escalated, very aware that something was amiss.

"You may be the director, but I'm the chief of police. You need clear the area immediately, sir."

"That's all fine and grand, but apparently you don't know what I'm capable of." Sidney bit, stepping closer to the officer. "Tell me what is going on in my hospital!"

" _Sidney, how many times do I have to tell you not to fight with the police?!"_

Greg's voice could be faintly heard through Sidney's speaker, which now hung at his side.

"We have people still inside that building, sir, and our priority is removing them before this situation escalates. So, unless you'd like us to resort to force, you'll nee-"

"If there are people inside, why is everyone standing around?! If there's a fire go GET them!" Sidney's voice had now become a forceful yell, though the officer remained calm.

The officer raised an eyebrow. "Sir, there is no fire. We received a call a short time ago from an employee on the second floor who said there is a man with a gun in the building, and he has cornered a few of your other employees into an office. We have reason to believe that he may do them harm, so naturally, this is a hostage situation."

Sidney's angry expression dropped to shock. "Did they say who it was?" he asked.

"If you would move to the other side of this car, they'll be able to tell you everything." he started, pointing to a police car behind himself, a few officers standing behind it. "Since you're the director, we could use your help."

Sidney nodded, stone faced as he looked back and forth slowly. "Yes… yes, of course." he muttered in disbelief, walking past the chief and to the other policemen standing behind the car. Before he reached his destination, Sidney brought the phone to his ear again, mouth agape in surprise.

"Greg…" he spoke, fearfully.

" _I'll cancel our tee time and be there in ten minutes."_

Reading his mind, Sidney ended the call and stalled briefly before dialing it once more. It rang twice before a voice answered on the other line.

" _Hello?"_

"I hate to bug you on your day off, but you need to get here right away – we have a situation."

" _What do you mean situation? What's going on?"_

"The police are here. They say they have reason to believe that Caduceus is experiencing a hostage situation."

There was silence on the other end momentarily as the news was taken in.

" _I'll be there in five minutes."_

"Thank you, Robert."

Sidney ended the call and paced to meet the waiting officers, heart racing.

"Okay, sir." an officer spoke. "Here's what we know so far…"


	6. Shock

Sometimes, people ask questions they do not honestly wish to hear the answer to.

This was Sidney Kasal's predicament as he stood with the officers outside of Caduceus, noting their grave expressions.

"Do you know which of my employees are inside?" he finally willed himself to ask, to which the male and female officer exchanged a glance.

"Mr…?"

"Doctor." he corrected. "Kasal… Sidney."

"Dr. Kasal, after speaking with a few of your other employees…" the female started, eyes down on a notepad in her hand. "…It seems as though employees by the name of Stiles, Thompson, Chase, Sears, Myers, and Niguel are still unaccounted for."

"WHAT?!" he roared, the officers' eyes springing open in surprise. "There's SIX of them in there? And just what in the hell are you waiting for?! Why aren't you going in?!"

"Dr. Kasal." the male officer warned. "I know this must be difficult, but you'll need to calm down or we'll have you removed."

Sidney's eyes narrowed into slits and traced over the male officer's shining gold badge, black lettering spelling out the name "Brooks". He thoroughly disliked being on the receiving end of such a harsh tone, much more comfortable when he was the one to give it. He did concede in that moment, however, that being removed from the area or arrested would leave him unable to help his employees, and as such, softened his gaze and his attitude as best he could.

Hands on his hips, Sidney attempted to calm himself through deep breathing, though it was woefully ineffective. What did help, though, was the sight of his twin brother moving through the parking lot and toward the hospital. Officer Brooks attempted to stop Greg from coming through, leaving the elder Kasal to look over the officer's shoulder at Sidney.

"Let him through, please." he requested, stepping to where Greg and the officer were talking. "He's directly involved with one of the hostages."

As Greg sank under the caution tape, Sidney could spot a fear and vulnerability in his brother's eyes that he rarely witnessed. He was in the same situation that Sidney had been just minutes before, readying himself to ask a question he surely did not want to learn the answer to.

"She's still in there, isn't she?" he asked softly, unable to say her name out loud. He was of course referring to Cybil, his current girlfriend and close friend of many years.

Sidney frowned. "I wish I could say no. I'm sorry."

Greg peered up at Caduceus. "Who's with her?"

"Derek, Angie, Tyler, Leslie, and Victor."

Greg's eyes shot open and to his twin brother in astonishment, to which Sidney simply nodded. He then turned from Greg to face the officers behind him.

"Do you know anything else about the situation? Who's the gunman?"

Officer Brooks stepped to him, his hands on his hips. "We're told that one of the nurses recognized him as a man who was briefly hospitalized the other day. His wife had surgery and passed away… something about a stab wound?"

"Corrigan!" Sidney blurted out.

"Is that the man's name?"

"Yes, his name was Jack Corrigan. His wife Katherine came in with a knife buried in her abdomen but our efforts to save her were… unsuccessful."

"So, we have the guy and the motive…" he muttered, scribbling in his pad while walking back to the patrol car. Sidney and Greg followed closely behind him and watched Brooks pull out a phone and dial a number from his pad.

Placing it to his ear, he waited.

-o-

Angie, Derek, Leslie, Tyler, Cybil, and Victor sat on the floor just outside of Derek and Angie's office in that exact order, their backs against the wall. Gun still in his hand, Corrigan paced back and forth wordlessly, silence from his hostages as well. Suddenly, he stopped in front of Angie, her whole body visibly trembling as she awaited his next move.

"You." he said, pointing the gun at her.

Her eyes moved to Derek quickly, identifying the terror in his gaze before returning her stare to their captor.

"Get up." he snarled, to which Angie quickly rose to her feet.

"We need to lighten the mood…" he joked, his putrid smile turning Angie's stomach into knots.

He mulled over his own words momentarily, head down but eyes stuck on the nurse.

"We need some music. You got any?"

She nodded. "I have my iPod and speakers in our office."

The gunman reached forward, forcefully grabbing her by the upper arm as she let out a small, scared, squeak. He began to walk toward the office and dragged her along, all but throwing her inside once they arrived. Malevolent eyes shot quickly back and forth between the five hostages in the hallway and the one in the office, his gun hanging at his side though his grip on it still firm.

"Oh great." Derek grumbled under his breath, though it caught Tyler's attention.

"What?" he whispered, his eyes bouncing frequently to Corrigan to take care that he did not witness them talking.

Music suddenly cut through the suffocating tension, an ill-fitting soundtrack to such a horrid event. Corrigan leaned into the office after the fulfillment of his request, yanking Angie out into the hallway and pushing her back down to sit next to Derek once more.

"The only thing worse than being a hostage is having to listen to Angie's music while being a hostage." Derek joked quietly, to which Tyler laughed and Angie scoffed.

"Hey!" she shrieked quietly, Corrigan crossing his arms as he listened to their conversation.

"What's that song? That, awful, awful song…" Derek pondered aloud, smiling faintly as Angie smacked him.

"Uggh… it's called "Goodbye, My Lover" and it's an EXCELLENT song. You just have bad taste." she grumbled, crossing her arms in a huff.

Quietly, Derek began to make fun of James Blunt's voice, leaving Tyler to start cracking up at his dead-on impression while Angie sat seething.

"OKAY!" Corrigan snapped, the laughs and smiles dropping off their faces instantly at the sound of his voice. "Stop fucking around! You guys are-"

He was cut off as the phone at the station just five feet away began to ring.

-o-

"It's ringing." Office Brooks said to his Chief, who had come to his side to assist. Sidney and Greg stood a short distance away, watching intently.

"Ah, Mr. Corrigan? This is Officer Brooks with the ABPD. I'm hoping we can talk."

The office kept very calm during his brief back and forth with the deranged gentleman on the other line, Sidney quickly losing patience at the exchange.

"He's handling this too nicely - he needs to put the fear of God in that man!"

He paused for a moment at this thought before beginning to pace toward the officers on instinct. Greg placed a firm hand on Sidney's shoulder to stop him, the gesture completely ineffective as all his twin did was shrug it off and continue on. All Greg could do was watch as his incredibly bold but very stupid brother moved towards the situation, his eyes shooting open as Sidney quickly tore the phone from the officer's hands and walked away quickly. He began to yell into the receiver as the police attempted to intervene, unfortunately too late to stop his tirade.

"Listen up, you piece of shit!" Sidney shouted, phone in a death grip. "I have no problem lighting the whole damn building on fire if you don't quit being a slimy bastard and let those people go!"

"Dr. KASAL!" Officer Green, the female, yelled at him as she ripped the phone from his grasp and passed it back to her colleague. She forcefully dragged Sidney away from the patrol car with fire in her eyes, spun him around to face her, and yanked him close to her forcefully, fire flashing in her eyes.

"Dr. Kasal, the man upstairs with your employees has a gun." she explained with a sharp hiss, her hand still tightly gripping his arm. "Do you understand that? A gun. What that means is that stupid stunts like the one you just pulled could make him snap, and then the only way you'll see those six again will be when they're carried out in body bags. Is that what you want?"

Sidney shook his head furiously, mere inches separating him and the officer yelling at him.

"Do you understand why it is important that you let US handle this?"

Sidney nodded in defeat. The feeling of powerlessness was his least favorite, by a wide margin.

"Good." she said, releasing his arm. "We are allowing you to stay here because your knowledge of the situation will be invaluable to us, but don't think for a second that we won't remove you if you dare try something like that again."

"Sidney!"

Officer Green ended her discipline of the director at the sound of his name from behind them, the sharp, deep voice causing him to whirl around.

Dr. Robert Hoffman had arrived and hurriedly moved to close the distance between them, a hardened expression on his face.

"What's going on?" he asked, to which Sidney heaved a giant sigh.

Before he could answer, the three doctors spun at the sound of yelling a short distance away. Still on the phone with the captor, Officer Brooks was now shouting orders to those around him just as a gunshot resounded through the air.

-o-

"Oh yeah? And I'm just supposed to walk out of here right now and spare them so that you can put me away for life? Call me crazy, but that sure sounds like a shit deal."

The six hostages watched stone-faced as their captor hammered it out with the police downstairs. He suddenly grew silent when an unidentified voice came on the line and screamed at him, his expression quickly turning to that of complete contempt as the outburst subsided.

"Well…" he spat, obviously unamused by the verbal abuse that had just been hurled his way. The officer had arrived back on the line and attempted to downplay what had just happened, too late to intervene as the scale had unfortunately been tipped in the wrong direction.

"That's how you're going to talk to me; the guy with the gun?! Alright - let's make it interesting, shall we?"

The change in his voice made Tyler tremble, nervously pulling Leslie closer to him.

His bald head shining against the fluorescent lights, Corrigan walked until he was standing directly in front of Victor. The researcher's quivering form rested against the wall just below the large but only window in the hallway, to which Corrigan was now peering out of. He smiled and waved to the police and crew watching him outside before he pulled the gun out and pointed it directly at Victor's head.

A collective gasp was heard through the other five as they all huddled together, watching in horror as Victor stared down the barrel of the black pistol.

"If I'm such a slimy bastard, then these people wouldn't still be alive..." he snarled into the receiver.

"…but tell whoever that "negotiator" was: thanks for the first casualty."

Victor's colleagues could only watch the gunman's long finger pull back on the trigger in seemingly slow motion, the shot instantaneous and deafening. Angie fell into Derek's arms sobbing and Leslie did the same to Tyler, his other arm around Cybil as she shielded her face from the sight. Silence rang through the hallway before Corrigan began to speak once more.

"When you're ready to make an actual attempt at a negotiation, you be sure to give me a call." he growled, a small chime ringing as he firmly slammed the phone back into the receiver.

Still clutching at Tyler's arm, Cybil registered faint, shaky breaths coming from her other side. She could hear Victor trying to hold back tears, respirations uneven and quick, as he was most likely in his last few minutes of life. It both pained and scared her to think about watching someone she cared for die before her eyes, but she put this aside as she moved away from Tyler and toward Victor. This was the one moment he would need someone the most, and despite her own fears, Cybil was determined to be there.

-o-

"WE HAVE A SHOT!"

The shout came from Officer Green, Officer Brooks still attempting negotiations with Corrigan on the phone. The chief of police was now running in the direction of his officers, Sidney and Robert following until another officer escorted them away from the conversation. They watched their discussion helplessly from just feet away, Sidney's stomach in a tight knot as the chief started to move his way.

"I guess you could say he wasn't exactly happy with your outburst, Dr. Kasal." he scolded, expression grim.

Robert turned to Sidney in search of explanation, but the chief's hazel eyes remained locked with the officers.

"Another officer told us that he's standing in front of the window, where he has apparently lined up your employees. His gun was pointed downward, and before we could even react to what he was saying, he aimed and fired a shot. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing the outcome yet."

Sidney covered his eyes with his left hand, breaths stuck in his throat. He could be the cause of the injury or death of one of his close friends, the weight of such a scenario almost too much to bear. All Robert could do was place a hand on Sidney's shoulder and shake his head back and forth, praying silently that even in the midst of something so harrowing, that everything would somehow turn out okay.

After the officer retreated, Sidney pulled away from Robert and walked over to Greg. All Robert could do was stare forward at them with a heavy heart as Sidney began to panic over his mistake, leaving Greg to wrap him up in a tight hug.

However, a short distance away, an unidentified man walked towards Sidney as Greg consoled him. Placing a hand gently on Sidney's shoulder, the younger Kasal turned around with shock in his eyes, now standing face to face with someone he had never expected to see.

-o-

Cybil reluctantly pulled away from Tyler to look to the fallen researcher, finding that her eyes immediately turned towards his feet instead of whatever wound he had suffered. Slowly, she worked her way upward, wanting to look away but continually spurred forward by morbid curiosity. Tears falling from her dark eyes, her hand shakily wiped them away as she prepared herself to look at him, his uneven, gasping breaths still audible and breaking her heart. The only other noise she could place was Angie and Leslie still sobbing as Derek and Tyler held them, nobody besides Cybil willing to look at the damage that had been done.

Cybil's gaze finally reached where the gunshot had landed and she gasped as a hand flew over her mouth. Victor was shaking uncontrollably, his dark brown eyes as wide open as they could possibly get though it became quickly clear that the only damage he suffered was psychological in nature. Cybil reached for his hand and grabbed it tightly while examining the bullet hole Corrigan left in the drywall – just two inches to the left of Victor's head.

"Oh my God, Victor!" Cybil whispered, yanking him toward her and hugging him as she began to cry of sheer relief. Too shocked to protest, Victor simply allowed Cybil to hold him as he thanked whatever deity had spared his life.

Derek forced himself to look up and over towards Victor at what sounded like relief, though Angie's head remained buried in his chest. Spotting a bullet hole in the wall instead of in Victor, he shook his nurse and reached over, grabbing Leslie's attention soon after. Once everyone took a look at an intact Victor Niguel and realized that it was nothing more than a very close call, the hostages breathed a sigh of relief and attempted to calm themselves as best as they could.

Unfortunately, the calm wouldn't last long.

"You can't just… jerk people around like this!" Derek muttered, his voice slightly raising as he continued, underlying rage a catalyst for his outburst.

"Oh yeah?!" Corrigan laughed, amused by the attempt to reach him. "…and why not? Someone I loved died because of you – that's a hurt you will never know."

"You think I don't know what its like to lose someone I love?!" Derek snapped as Angie tried to shush him. He paid her no mind as he glared up at the bald man, whose expression had taken on an air of pure amusement.

"You listen to me, you little shit." the gunman rebounded, crossing his arms. "It hurts that she's gone, for more than one reason. I loved her so much, but she was in love with someone else the whole time – do you know what that's like, doctor?"

Derek's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected turn.

"N-No…" he started shakily. "I don't. But I know that torturing us isn't going to bring her back."

"Derek!" Angie exclaimed quietly with a tone that pleaded with him to stop before it was too late.

"No. It's okay, nurse." he sneered. "I want to hear what he has to say."

There was silence as Derek tried to decide if speaking his mind was the best idea.

"Jack." he began, attempting to change his tone from accusatory to sympathetic. "I know that losing someone is painful, but we tried so hard to save her. We did everything possible in that OR – the whole staff gave it their all, I promise you. So instead of blaming us for this, why don't you go shoot the person who stabbed her?!" he exclaimed.

Corrigan smiled. "Dr. Stiles, I really don't see suicide as the answer…"

A collective gasp rippled through the group at his words, everyone thoroughly shocked at the unexpected turn of events.

"You… you mean… you stabbed her?" Angie asked, shakily.

"Don't judge me, you stupid bitch." he shot back, anger returning quickly. "You don't know the situation I was in!"

"Situation? Jack, what situation could ever make you think that stabbing someone you love is a good idea?!" Derek yelped, to which Angie nodded in agreement.

"I TOLD her! I told her time and time again that it bothered me when she was with him! She KNEW that, and she PROMISED ME SHE WOULD LEAVE HIM!"

Everyone recoiled as Corrigan began to yell, haphazardly waving the pistol around to try to emphasize his point.

"I LOVED her, and all she could talk about was the man she loved, and her kids, and this and that and blah blah blah… she said that she wanted to be with me, but she never meant it! NEVER!"

Silence fell over the hallway once more as he paced back and forth.

"She would talk to you about how she loved another man?" Angie asked quietly, failing to solicit a response from the man as he walked aimlessly, his movements spurred by an inner rage that came with having to discuss the situation.

"So, you stabbed her to scare her away from being with the other man anymore?" Derek asked, to which Corrigan shook his head no.

Derek's forehead furrowed, the surgeon now thoroughly confused. "If your wife was doing that, why didn't you just divorce her!? You didn't have to take her life…"

"You idiots!" he muttered, suddenly stopping in his tracks as he whirled around to face the doctor at the root of his rage. "She's not my wife!"

The six exchanged confused glances.

"Jack, when you came in with her yesterday you said that she was your wife. Over and over you kept reminding us of it!" Derek exclaimed, looking toward Angie briefly for her to corroborate his account, to which she did with a nod. Though when he turned back to Corrigan, all he received was a confused glance from the man in return.

"Oh, you really haven't figured it out yet, have you?" he asked, the confusion slowly bleeding away into a slight chuckle, Derek shaking his head back and forth in response. "I can tell, because you keep calling me by my brother's name…"

Derek froze, unsure of what he meant but well aware by the tone of voice it was carried on that it wasn't good.

"You would think that with all your "medical expertise" you would be able to know twins when you see them, Dr. Stiles…"


	7. Escalation

Sidney Kasal whirled around when a hand was placed on his back, the distraction welcome as he was still attempting to stop himself from crying. Tears abated quickly and thorough confusion took their place, the chief's mouth now wide open in shock.

"Oh shit." was all he could manage to mutter, as he now stood face to face with Jack Corrigan, whom he had originally thought was the madman responsible for this horrid situation.

"Jack?" he asked softly, he and Greg now thoroughly lost as the man nodded.

Jack Corrigan's eyes traced around the scene; flashing lights, emergency vehicles, and officers captured his attention for a brief moment before he turned back to Sidney and began to explain himself.

"Heh… I turned on the TV today and was interested to learn that I was apparently holding several hostages. It was a nice thing to get out of the shower to hear…"

Sidney couldn't help but chuckle just a bit at the man's predicament, the amusement quickly giving way to worsening confusion. Lifting up the tape to allow Jack underneath it, Sidney escorted him forward until they arrived at the side of Officer Green.

"Officer…" he said, motioning towards Jack when the woman turned his way.

"Dr. Kasal, you know this is a closed perimeter – you may not bring pe—"

"Officer Green, I'd like you to meet Jack Corrigan." Sidney said, cutting her off.

The officer's eyes widened as called for her chief, leaving them to converse with the man who had previously been their number one suspect. Sidney's attention drifted in and out of the conversation as his thoughts skipped back to how his phone outburst had worsened the situation, hoping silently that everyone inside was okay.

When the conversation drew to a close, Officer Brooks hesitated, his hands on his hips as he thought the circumstances over. With slight hesitation he picked up the phone once more, silently hoping that enough time had elapsed between the present and when the shot was fired. He dialed and waited while it rang on the other end.

"Chief!"

Sidney spun around at the shout by force of habit, quickly realizing that the chief being summoned was not himself. Instead, the police chief was now quickly moving to a member of the swat team, who was looking at the scene with a pair of binoculars. Sidney watched as the man handed the binoculars over to the chief, both men quietly conversing about whatever they saw before they turned and settled their eyes on Sidney.

"Dr. Kasal." the chief began, Sidney walking quickly to meet him. "Do any of the six we mentioned have any sort of experience in law enforcement?" he asked Sidney.

"Yes actually. GREG?!"

Greg came rushing to Sidney's side, curious as to why he was being summoned.

"Cybil used to be on the police force, right?" he asked. Greg turned to the officers with a nod, confused and slightly worried as to where this was going.

"Yeah, she quit med school to pursue law enforcement in Chicago. She was on the force for years before she came back to medicine… why?"

The Kasals peered at the chief who now sported a slight smirk.

"We're not confirming anything. However, from what we just saw, it looks like everyone is okay for the moment."

-o-

"…Twins?" Derek asked, his expression contorted into a look of utter shock. "That means you're…"

"Jack's brother, Erik. It's a _pleasure_ , to meet you all."

Silence immediately flooded the hallway. The six friends and colleagues traded glances though no words were spoken, each person too shocked by the plot twist to even begin to process it. Erik's dark eyes scanned every one of them as they attempted to put the pieces together, deciding quickly to just tell them instead of watching them struggle any longer.

"Everything would have been fine if you would've saved her." he sneered, voice dripping with contempt. "From the moment I entered the room until she was bleeding to death, she honestly believed that the person stabbing her was her lowlife husband. My plan was perfect: once she got better, she would've run to me just like she promised me all those years. But, YOU…" he snapped, pointing to Derek with his free hand.

"…You ruined _everything_."

"Sorry to burst your bubble here, but I'm pretty sure _you_ ruined everything when you stabbed her!" Leslie shot back, her friends snapping their eyes to her with surprise at her outburst.

Erik Corrigan smiled the slimy grin that made every single one of them cringe. One after the other his boots hit the tile loudly as he walked towards Leslie, his eyes locked on her even as he bent forward at the waist to bring himself closer. She shrank back against the wall and Tyler placed a protective arm across her torso, glaring at him with contempt.

"You know…" Erik cooed, throwing Tyler's arm aside as he stroked Leslie's face with the back of his hand. He watched her visibly squirm as he continued to touch her, tracing his hand from her face and down her neck slowly. Moving his hand down further, he forcefully grabbed onto her left breast, squeezing it firmly as she let out a painful cry.

"…one more little outburst from you, you pretty little thing… and everyone here, including your little boyfriend _..._ will watch you get _raped_ …"

Acting on pure instinct, Tyler shot his foot out and forcefully made contact with Erik's gut, the gunman immediately releasing his hold on Leslie. She began to cry and leaned into Tyler's arm, who protectively pulled her tightly to himself while still glowering at the man in front of him.

"Tyler!" Derek yelled, trying warn his friend from attempting such an assault again as the bastard just laughed off the surgeon's "attack". Tyler paid Derek no mind at this point, unwilling to sit by and let the woman he cared for be threatened any longer.

"You do NOT talk to her like that, you son of a bitch!" Tyler snarled, becoming more upset when all Erik did was laugh in response.

"I'd be careful, _Tyler_." he said in a menacing tone as he flashed his weapon as a stern reminder of how helpless they all were. "Remember who has the gun, here. You're lucky I still have my patience with all of these outbursts, because if I didn't, you'd all be dead right now. So, before I lose said patience, I suggest you all just sit there and just shut the fuck up!"

Derek turned his head to the side until he saw Angie, who was staring up at Erik with a brave expression that masked the pure terror that he knew was underlying. He wanted to comfort her somehow; but in his own state of uncertainty, he wasn't sure that it was even possible at this point.

Cybil, on the other hand, remembered something vital from her days on the force as she watched the drama unfold. Her eyes watched Corrigan like a hawk, waiting patiently to make her move until he finally turned his back to them. However, before she could, the sound of a ringing phone startled her back into her place, as he was now eyeing the six once more. His stare made it clear that punishment would come to anyone who dared attempt anything while he answer the call, before eventually walking to the phone and lifting it from the cradle.

With his back now turned to them once more, Cybil shakily raised her arms up over her head, her hands now in front of the window. Her colleagues watched as she made several hand motions, silently hoping that the people outside were smart enough to be watching with binoculars.

"What are you doing?" Victor asked quietly, careful not to draw unwanted attention.

"Back on the force, I remember being in these situations. It was so much easier to know how to proceed if we knew anything about the status of those inside…" she said, holding up six fingers to signify the six of them. "I'm trying to give them a signal – anything that will tell them what's going on in here. I just hope they understand..."

After holding up six fingers, she flipped her wrists upside down and pointed, showing that all of them were seated underneath the window – and shortly after, gave two thumbs up to signify everyone was still okay. She repeated the gestures several times, only yanking her hands down when Erik turned towards them yet again.

-o-

"Someone's flashing a number '6', two thumbs up, and pointing downward… we could read that as 'There's six of us in here, we're right under the window, and there are no injuries…'" Green said, watching out of the corner of her eye as Sidney heaved a giant sigh of relief. "That's one of the reasons we asked if someone in there was former law enforcement."

"One of the reasons? What's the other?" Greg asked, curious.

"Dr. Kasal…" Officer Green began. "We can start to take some risks because someone in there obviously knows what they're doing. It's our hope that she'll be able to figure out our plan, and hopefully, it'll allow them an exit."

Sidney nodded, slightly weary of the situation. "Okay, how can I help?"

"We need a floor plan of the hospital - we're sending someone in."

"What?!" Sidney yelled. "You can't do that – one wrong move and he's going to kill everyone in there! I won't stand for this."

"Enough, Director." the chief snapped, cutting him off. "We're not sending anyone in to try to break up the situation… we're sending in a member of the SWAT team for something just a little different."

"I'm listening…" Sidney replied, hands on his hips.

-o-

"See, what you _cops_ don't understand is that there is nothing you are going to negotiate with me. The only thing I want is the blood of this doctor on my hands; for him to spend his last minutes in agony, just as my wife did."

There was a short pause before Corrigan stormed over to the window right in front of Cybil, looking out and down below.

"You're lying – _I'm_ Jack, whoever you have downstairs is an imposter! I can't even see him, you bunch of fucks…!"

As Erik grew more irate, Cybil grew nervous: they either had to get out or calm him down, because unchecked rage likely meant imminent harm to any of them.

Erik stepped away from the window and walked towards Derek and Angie's office, his back now turned to all of them as he continued to bicker with police on the other line. Racking her brain for a possible countermeasure, Cybil's train of thought was derailed as she registered a small click from the door about ten feet away from them. Her eyes widened, trying to decipher whether it could be someone unlocking it from the other side or if the noise was just a figment of her desperate imagination.

"I have to go check the door." she whispered as quiet as could be, Erik still with his back to them.

"What? Cybil, are you nuts?! You'll get yourself killed!" Tyler snapped, looking at the charcoal-haired woman as her eyes flashed a determination that wouldn't easily be overcome.

"Listen to me – we can't all just sit around like this! I'm the one that's had training here, remember? And I just heard that door click, which leads me to believe they sent someone up to unlock it. So, I'm just going to check. If it's open, we may have a shot at a real escape. If not, at least I can say I tried."

"No, you can't. Cybil, you're staying here!" Victor exclaimed in a whisper, slight annoyance in his voice.

"Both of you just be quiet, and listen to me. Tyler, do you have your cell on you…?"

"Yeah…" he said shakily, pointing to where it rested behind his back.

"Think all those hours of messaging your sweetheart will come in handy, and you can send a message to Sidney?"

He gulped. "Sure – what do you want it to say?"

"Send him a message telling him to mute his phone and give it to the police." she said, looking over at Erik. "After you send the message, wait a few seconds and then call him."

"Oh, so they can listen and know what's going on…?" he queried.

"Exactly." she replied quietly.

They paused as Erik whirled around again, still fighting with police on the line. He stared on at them momentarily before turning away yet again, just as Leslie, Derek, and Angie leaned forward to try to hear what was going on.

"Sit back." Cybil instructed them. "Tyler will fill you in after I'm done talking."

The three obliged, now trying their best to avoid looking at Cybil in an attempt to keep the focus off of her.

The Iron Vixen's dark brown eyes scanned the area until they stopped in the middle of the floor, gaze now fixed on what she had been looking for.

"Okay, it's going to be a bit risky… but you need to get your phone into that vent."

Just across from the six and maybe three feet away sat a covered vent on the floor, so close yet so painstakingly far away.

"Those vents are shallow, but the tops lift off…" she explained. "…if you can get your phone into there, it'll be able to pick up just enough to help: they have equipment out there to magnify the sound like you wouldn't believe."

Tyler's fingers worked away at his Blackberry though his eyes never left Erik. Within a matter of seconds he completed the message and sent it to Sidney, before sitting back against the wall and biding his time.

"Now, Victor…" Cybil said, her eyes meeting those of her dark-haired friend.

"Now you're dragging _me_ into this?" he scoffed, which earned him a slap in the arm.

"Yes, Victor. So sorry for trying to save our _lives_ …" she snapped, eyes shooting him an evil glare.

Victor sighed. "Okay, what?"

"If something happens to any of us, you have to make some sort of signal to them outside that says what has happened and how many are still left. If I get shot…" she said.

"Cybil, don't talk like that. Please." Victor interrupted, his expression incredibly disturbed by the thought and even more-so by the ease with which she spoke of such things.

"Hey, it could happen." she chided, unfazed by the risk. "Anyway, if something were to happen to me, you're going to hold up five fingers, and then try to make a shooting motion, or just… something, to let them know what's up."

Victor swallowed hard and nodded. "O-Okay."

Tyler and Cybil saw their chance as Erik began to yell again, storming into Derek and Angie's office as he searched the people below for the so-called "brother" that was ruining his grand plan.

Quickly, Tyler dialed Sidney and moved over to the vent, plopping the phone inside of it as he skidded back towards the wall. Breathing a sigh of relief, Leslie hugged him as they looked over at a hunched over Cybil, who was just inches from the door.

"Please be open, please be…"

A chorus of blood curdling screams rang through the small hallway as Cybil crumpled to the floor, holding her side as she screamed repeatedly.

Derek, Angie, Tyler, Leslie, and Victor turned towards Erik, who without their knowing, had walked back out into the hallway. Pacing angrily to the counter, he promptly slammed the phone in his hand back into its cradle while glaring at Cybil's now motionless body, his unamused stare then shooting back at the remaining five.

"Trying for a DARING ESCAPE, huh?!" he screamed, gripping the gun in his hand as he pointed it at them, five colleagues now huddled together in tears. "You guys just won't FUCKING LEARN!"

The gun discharged again.

-o-

"Chief!" Sidney yelled while holding up his phone and running towards the officer. "I got a message from inside…!"

Within a split second, Sidney was surrounded by three officers and the chief, all of them questioning his claim.

"It says, 'Mute your phone, give to police'…" he read, lingering before he handed it off to the chief.

Just mere seconds later, it began to ring, flashing the name "Tyler Chase" on the screen. The chief quickly accepted the call and placed it immediately on mute per Tyler's text instruction. He brought it to his ear, his other hand plugging the unoccupied ear as he strained to make out the noise on the other side. Unsuccessfully able to identify anything of note, he ran to the SWAT team's van and hopped inside with Sidney's phone, returning minutes later to Sidney, Greg, and his waiting officers.

"They managed to hide the phone somewhere, so it's giving us a complete blow-by-blow of what's happening in there. The team is hooking it up to their equipment as we speak – they'll quickly be able to magnify and isolate the sound, and hopefully we'll be able to hear what's going on."

"Dr. Kasal, we'll need you and Dr. Hoffman to come with us and identify any voices we may hear." Officer Green instructed.

Sidney and Robert were only able to take a single step each toward the van before they both recoiled at the sound of another gunshot ringing through the air. Horrified shrieks rippled through the crowd of employees that remained gathered nearby, devastation palpable.

"Oh, God!" Sidney cried, immediately covering his face with his hands. He closed his eyes and prayed silently as panic grew in the mass of onlookers behind them; shouts, tears, and frustration clouded his mind as he attempted to focus on begging God for assistance.

"Fuck!" Officer Brooks yelled as he hung up the phone. "There is a LOT of screaming – he definitely got someone this time!"

Sidney removed his hands from his face and turned back to Robert, his anguish mirroring that of his director. The men simply looked at each other stone faced as an officer looked up at the window through his binoculars.

"Chief, the window!" he shouted towards his commanding officer, prompting Sidney and Robert to whirl around and face the building as well.

Very faintly, everyone down below saw a white, pasty hand raise up and signal a number.

"How many?!" Sidney asked as he and Robert rushed over to the officers with Greg hot on their heels. The officer pulled away from the binoculars and turned his head to face Sidney with a grim stare.

"They're signaling 'five'…"

Everyone outside watched as the hand was quickly pulled down, just as another gunshot rang out.

Sidney's heart dropped straight into his stomach.


	8. Hopeless

"They're signaling 'five'…"

Everyone outside watched as the hand was quickly pulled down, just as another gunshot was fired.

Sidney's heart dropped straight into his stomach.

"We can't just stand AROUND anymore!"

Sidney whirled to face Robert with surprise at his outburst. Rare was Robert Hoffman showing emotion, yet even rarer did Sidney witness him lose his temper in such a way. A brief bit of comfort passed over him upon the realization that the normally unshakable director of Caduceus was just as fed-up as he; and so, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Robert as they stared on at the officers in front of them, gazes expecting an explanation.

"Dr. Kasal, Dr. Hoffman…" Officer Brooks began, holding up his hand. "I understand that this is frustrating to you, because it is to us as well. We would love nothing more than to get things moving, but he's suddenly become quite angry about something and it had made the situation quite volatile. We were starting to make progress in talking him down, but now we're back at square one." he finished in a murmur, looking down at the ground.

"Brooks!"

Sidney and Robert spun around to see the chief rush toward them. He pulled Officer Brooks aside and began to converse with him in hushed tones.

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like what's coming?" Sidney asked quietly.

"Probably because I was just thinking the same thing." Robert replied, gently raking a hand through his beard.

"That is an ORDER, Brooks!" the chief suddenly spat, the unexpected change in demeanor startling both Sidney and Robert. The chief turned on his heel and stormed away from his subordinate, Brooks lingering in place briefly before walking toward the heads of the hospital with a grave expression. Once he was in front of them he opened his mouth to speak, sighing once before the words made their way out.

"In just a few moments, gentlemen, the SWAT team is going to start preparing."

"Preparing?" Robert interjected. "Preparing for what?"

Office Brooks sighed once more, appearing somewhat upset by the situation.

"Their sharpshooter is going to come out, set up, and we're going to take him out."

Robert and Sidney stood slightly shocked with stone expressions. Neither of them was quite sure what to say to the news, feelings of relief overshadowed by the fact that this clearly wouldn't end without loss of life.

"We don't know who has been harmed and if there have been any casualties. Before he hung up the phone, he was screaming about an escape…"

Sidney's heart wrenched again. _Cybil._

His head turned to the side to look at his twin, who was several feet away but watching him intently. The elder Kasal's expression dropped as Sidney made eye contact with him, well aware that it was about his love before Sidney could say a word.

"…so we have reason to believe that everyone inside is in imminent danger." Officer Brooks continued, Sidney snapping back into the conversation after the brief space-out. "While things seem to have settled down, we can't take any more chances: there have been two shots in the last minute alone, which tells us this is escalating past any other measures that we could take."

Robert nodded, looking at Sidney. They exchanged a brief glance before Sidney turned back to the Officer.

"You have our full support. Please, do anything you can to save them."

Brooks nodded before walking back to the chief and the SWAT team. Sidney watched his walk quickly turn into a run, a sudden panic over by the SWAT van that Sidney and Robert witnessed from just a short distance away.

"What's going on? Why are they moving like that, why are they–"

Sidney was promptly cut off as another gunshot echoed through the air from inside. He tripped backwards and bent over at the waist, feeling as though any minute he would vomit from unrelenting grief.

"Another one?!" he yelled, his face now buried in his hands as he shook his head. This was impossible – it couldn't be happening. The six employees inside were medicine's brightest and they were meeting a fate ill-befitting of the heroes they were. Those six were the world's hope for a bright and disease-free future – they were so young, so talented, so full of life…

Sidney's eyes began to burn as the anger and hopelessness he was feeling manifested itself in the form of quickly accumulating tears. He struggled to catch his breath as it quickened and grew uneven, taking a few minutes to himself before moving to check on his brother and friend. Turning over his shoulder, he saw Dr. Hoffman standing perfectly still with his head hung and eyes closed.

Sidney rose to stand tall and after hesitating for a moment, timidly stepped to him. Though he hated to disturb someone in prayer, Sidney placed his arm on Robert's and waited until the elder surgeon looked up at him, noting the deep sorrow in his eyes.

Sidney Kasal was never a particularly religious man. But in his current feeling of helplessness, he turned toward something much bigger than himself with a hope that if he couldn't fix this situation, someone out there could.

"Robert… will you… will you pray with me?"

Forcing a small smirk, Dr. Hoffman nodded gently, and both men bowed their heads together.

-o-

"Trying for a DARING ESCAPE, huh?!" he screamed, gripping the gun in his hand as he pointed it at them, five colleagues now huddled together in tears. "You guys just won't FUCKING LEARN!"

Angie buried her face into Derek's shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. He huddled against her, both of them shaking like mad.

The gun discharged again.

Derek's stomach churned at the sound of a high-pitched scream to his right, a deep sigh escaping him before he was able to work up the nerve to find the source. Brown eyes traced over until he found it, a gasp leaving him as he noticed Leslie bleeding from her left arm.

"Leslie!"

Tyler was now in a state of panic, his eyes glazed over with unfallen tears as Leslie dropped into his lap. He checked over the wound as she attempted to stifle her cries of pain, one arm winding protectively around her as his other hand pressed into the bullet hole in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. At the commotion, Angie lifted her head off Derek's shoulder and glanced at her best friend, a hand flying up over her mouth when she saw the damage.

Victor's eyes flashed to Leslie with frustration and sadness but quickly moved back to Cybil, noting that she hadn't moved in quite some time.

"We need to help them…" Victor mumbled, bravely turning his gaze up towards Erik.

"What did you say?" he sneered, stepping over to the researcher to attempt to intimidate him into shutting up.

"I said we need to help them!" Victor exclaimed, now practically yelling back at him. He glared at the gunman with contempt, tired of sitting idly by and quickly beginning to feel as though he had nothing left to lose.

"Victor, don't!" Angie warned.

"No, Angie – we can't just sit here and let them both bleed to death! Cybil hasn't even moved since she got shot! She may already be…"

Victor trailed off as he looked back at the other four, watching them look over at Cybil gravely, tears in their eyes.

A bitter silence seeped through the hallway as Erik stood in front of them all, silent and unmoving. He suddenly turned his attention to Tyler, who was already staring at him with pure hatred.

"Get them out of here."

The five colleagues all looked up at Erik with disbelief, unsure if they had heard him right.

"What did you say?" Victor asked, his voice wavering.

"You heard me." he repeated, agitation growing. "I didn't want anything to do with any of you little shits anyway. You-" he said, pointing to Tyler. "Carry her out" he instructed, now pointing over to the motionless Cybil. "And you…" he continued, pointing his finger to Victor. "Help her out of here." he finished, a finger now pointed at Leslie.

Tyler and Victor both nodded solemnly and moved to stand.

"Wait." Erik commanded, a vile smirk creeping across his face.

Everyone froze, awaiting his next move.

"Before you go, there's something I want you to see…"

As the last of his words poured out into the silence his arm slowly raised the gun, the barrel now aimed at Angie's head.

"But before I pull the trigger, say goodbye. This means you, Stiles…"

Angie's friends turned their attention to her with terror. Tears rolled down the nurse's face and she bit her lower lip as she trembled and closed her eyes. Derek's hand reached over and tightly grabbed hers and she squeezed back, the surgeon filled with fear and unsure of what to say or do. This couldn't be happening to them. This couldn't be the last time he was going to see her, talk to her, touch her – he still had something so important to tell her…

He was broken from his thoughts as Erik fired the shot he had feared was coming, repugnance completely overwhelming him at the sound. Derek squeezed Angie's hand tightly and his head dropped back against the wall, tears immediately beginning to pour down his face. He sat still with a hand over his eyes for what felt like forever, trying to summon enough strength to pick his head up and look at her. He could never imagine having to witness such a sight, but just when he had convinced himself that such a feat might be impossible…

"Derek…"

It was barely a whisper, but the sound of his name instantly cut through the revolting internal narrative that he was currently entrenched in and gave him hope that he had heard correctly. Derek reluctantly opened his eyes and hastily wiped the tears from them, his head moving to the side until his brown eyes connected with a familiar emerald. Overwhelming relief took over as he spotted his nurse, unharmed, a bullet hole in the drywall just inches from her head. Abandoning their usual professionality, Derek pulled her quickly into his arms and sighed thankfully as he held her shaking form, his lips planting a quick kiss on the crown of her head. Angie buried her face in his chest and gripped onto him tightly as she sobbed, the pair growing furious as they heard Erik begin to laugh once more.

"This is just so much fun, watching you guys all panic like that!" he exclaimed, leaving the rest of them to glower up at him.

"Take one last look at your friends." he spat at Derek and Angie as an incredibly shaky Tyler and Victor worked in helping their wounded coworkers off the floor. "I guarantee that this will probably be the last time you see them alive."

Tyler, Victor, and Leslie sent a miserable glare Derek and Angie's way, friends all locked in a stare together as they wondered for a moment if he was truly correct.

"We love you guys so much." Tyler said with tears in his eyes, to which Leslie and Victor nodded. "Everything will be alright. We'll get you out."

"HA!" Erik laughed. "That's rich. Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind."

Scooping up Cybil in his arms, Tyler sent one last look back at Derek and Angie before he began to move towards the door, Victor following with his arm around a weak Leslie to help her walk. Within a matter of seconds the door closed behind the four of them, and suddenly, Derek and Angie were all alone, still cuddled up together on the floor.

" _I hope they do something soon..._ " Derek thought to himself, well aware that time was quickly running out. He tightened his grip around Angie once more as she cried, the pair now holding onto each other for dear life.

-o-

Having finished their prayer, Sidney and Robert stood together silently, now waiting to see what had come of those three shots. Officer Brooks remained next to them as they all watched as the sharpshooter prepare his equipment while perched on top of a nearby patrol car. By that time, all members on the force were doing something; some were quickly scurrying around, others were standing and talking, some were barking orders.

Sidney simply looked down at the ground, hoping for some good news, when…

"Oh shit…"

Sidney snapped his head up instantly. In their years together, he had _never_ heard Robert swear, the director's professionality and composure something to be idolized. However, as he raised his head and saw the cause of such an outburst, it became clear why it had happened.

Before Sidney's brain could even interpret the sight before him, Robert was already in a full sprint towards the front doors of Caduceus. The shock of it stalled Sidney briefly before he followed Robert, all the while screaming to the chief for medical help and to get an ambulance ready.

Tyler Chase had stumbled from the building with Cybil Myers' unconscious form draped across his arms, a massive amount of blood coming from her flank. Victor Niguel was using his weight to support a staggering Leslie Sears, who was still clutching her arm, though the blood continued to seep through her fingers and down her uniform.

Robert and Sidney both stuttered when they reached their colleagues, immediately unsuccessful in attempting to speak as they registered the horror that had come from the unidentified shots. They both lowered to the ground and began to assess the injuries in front of them, Sidney looking sadly over at his brother's girlfriend as Tyler laid her down on the concrete so they could all take a better look.

"Are you guys okay?" Robert asked, his violet eyes now on Tyler and Victor.

"We're fine." Tyler replied. "Cybil's in pretty bad shape… she's got a pulse but its weakening by the second…"

"Did someone call for medical help?"

"Greg…" Sidney warned, shooting up to stand in an attempt to spare his brother the sight, though unfortunately, he was too late.

"Oh, God!"

Greg's hand immediately flew up over his mouth as he stared down at Cybil, her motionless form on the ground at his feet. He gently sank to his knees next to her, his hand leaving his mouth in favor of stroking her face as he fought without success to bite back any emotion.

"Move your hand for just a second and let me see, Leslie." Dr. Hoffman instructed gently, the nurse immediately following orders. She winced as he quickly examined the area, before helping her up and over to the waiting ambulance.

Tyler bent down and scooped up Cybil once more, sorrow in his eyes toward Greg as he carried her over to where they were taking Leslie. Greg followed right on his heels, leaving Sidney knelt down next to a very shaken Victor.

"What in the hell is going on in there?" he questioned, watching as Victor ran a hand through his dark locks.

"First of all, I want to know which one of these assholes was the one that yelled at a guy with a gun. Fucker almost got me killed."

Sidney gulped. "You were the first shot?"

Victor's eyes narrowed. "It was _you_?!"

Sidney bit his lip, and then nodded. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think…"

"It was an inch from my fucking head, Sidney. You better believe I get a raise and more time in the lab for that bullshit…"

Sidney cracked a smile, his first of the afternoon. "Done. Now, let's go get you someplace safe."

Sidney helped a wobbly Victor to his feet and continued to walk with him, instantly noticing how unstable the researcher was while standing.

"Wait, Sidney…" he started, just as Officer Brooks and the chief approached the two.

Victor looked between the three men, his expression grave.

"You've seriously got about two minutes to do something, or else Derek and Angie are dead."

A sickening chill swept through Sidney at Victor's words, knowing after years of working together that the researcher didn't speak in such a way very often. He exchanged a glance with the officers and then turned around, noting that the sharpshooter was still setting up.

"Our sharpshooter looks as though he's about halfway through with his set-up, so as soon as he's done, we'll have everything taken care of." the chief reassured, looking back at Victor who remained rooted in place.

"You serious need to hurry… they, uh… don't have much time left." Victor mumbled before he looked back up at the building. He then allowed Sidney to begin to walk with him, moving to go sit with Tyler and Dr. Hoffman. Leslie and Cybil had been taken away in an ambulance with Greg in tow, who vowed to give updates to the best of his ability.

Sidney looked up at Caduceus as well, his stomach shredded with the constant, unyielding stress of the day.

" _Just a little bit longer you two... Hang on – we won't let you down."_


	9. Sacrifice

There is strength in numbers.

For you see, six on one could overpower with a collected effort.

Two on one, however, would require a lot more thought and a hell of a lot of luck.

And thinking away on the floor outside his office was Derek Stiles, knowing that a fight was imminent.

The fluorescent lightning reflected dully on the top of Erik Corrigan's bald head, catching Angie's attention as the man who had turned their lives upside down stood quietly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Derek simply stared at the floor while his mind ran through possible countermeasures for the situation. Until this point, he had believed that the police would have intervened by now; but unfortunately, this was not the case. Time was running out, their attacker was growing more irrational by the moment, and these two details left the surgeon to realize that at any moment, he may need to start fighting.

" _Yeah, all I'll do is tap into all that special training I received on how to incapacitate an armed assailant…"_

The sarcastic thought in his mind was both true and frustrating – Derek had no plan of how to fight back because he was clueless on where to even , if he was being honest with himself, he was certain that all that mattered was being able to do enough to give Angie some time to run for it. Currently, the prevailing thought was doing whatever was necessary to save her life…

…and hopefully after, his own.

-o-

Cybil and Leslie were rushed to Hope immediately after their exit from Caduceus. Victor and Tyler remained on site, both feeling torn between accompanying their colleagues to the hospital but ultimately deciding to stay under Leslie's reminder that they were likely of much more use at the scene. As such, the men were now talking with the chief of police, giving the force insight on what was happening inside.

After providing the police with as much information as possible, the two climbed inside the nearby van where Sidney's phone was still connected on a call to Tyler's, which remained in the floor grate just feet away from Derek and Angie.

-o-

Angie's iPod was still shuffling through random tracks, now on something more upbeat by the Foo Fighters. Halfway through the song the pair were still silent, save for Derek's random interjection.

"I didn't know you liked the Foo Fighters…" Derek said softly into her ear, watching as she turned her face up towards him.

"I'm surprised you didn't… I love the Foo Fighters."

"Yeah, me too…"

The attempt at small talk was short lived, as both returned to the previous state of stalemate without much else to say.

Blaring through the short-lived bout of quiet was the telephone at the nurses' station, the loud ring prompting both Derek and Angie to jolt, and Erik to whirl around in surprise. He eyed them both cautiously once more, stare never leaving theirs as his hand snaked over to the receiver and pulled it to his ear.

-o-

"It's ringing…" Officer Brooks said to the chief, both men listening through the same earpiece as they waited for him to pick up.

"So, Mr. Corrigan…" Officer Brooks began once a voice came on the other line. "…you've let four of the six hostages go already, what can we do to get the other two out of there?"

He paused, furrowing his forehead as an answer was given.

"I meant releasing them to safety, sir." He replied, expression briefly concerned before a sparkle of hope glimmered in his eyes and his tone of voice picked up just slightly. "Let's try negotiating again - I'm sure there can be some sort of agreement we can reach…"

A loud shout came from the other end, enough for Officer Brooks to grow stoic as the line went silent just after. His stare grew annoyed as he looked up at the building and then back to his chief, the flat dial tone emanating through the receiver taunting him and his dwindling patience.

"He hung up." Brooks stated, dropping the phone back into the front seat of the police car before placing his hands on his hips.

"Well," the chief asked, "what did he say before that?"

Brooks sighed.

"I wish I could say it was good."

-o-

Derek and Angie watched Erik, their captor listening intently to the officer on the other line.

"Eyes on the floor!" he shouted at them, both immediately complying with a startled jump.

From their vantage point, both Derek and Angie could hear a voice on the other end of the line. Derek closed his eyes and strained himself to discern the words being spoken by the police, growing mildly frustrated when he was unsuccessful in doing so.

"Oh, they'll get out of here alright… in body bags."

A shiver lanced through Derek at the statement. He had been terrified through the day, though naively struggled to convince himself that Erik would truly make good on his threat to kill he or Angie. This belief persisted no longer, virtually eliminated the second Cybil had hit the floor and cemented when he saw the blood begin to pour from Leslie's arm. He was left with constant nausea and unrelenting fear, related both to the increasing volatility of the situation and the fact that four people who used to be on his side of this fight were now gone.

He attempted to look at Angie with his peripheral vision, though all he could see was blonde hair that obscured her face, her head still hung. Fear of retribution prevented him from the instinct to interact with her, though his heart longed to hold her hand, to hug her…

He sighed softly.

" _I'm not sure who needs the comfort more – her or me."_

Erik paused again after the evil statement, the voice on the other end speaking an rebuttal only audible to the hostage taker. He let out a robust laugh at whatever the police had spoken to him, thoroughly amused.

"Negotiation? Yeah, right! At this point, I'm either going to leave here dead or be carted off to spend the rest of my life in jail… do you think I don't know that? I've got one chance to do what I came here for, and I intend to see my plan through to completion. You won't pry me from this building until I finish this fucker off, but not before I make him watch while I get my hands all over his nurse."

"You won't touch her, you prick!" Derek shouted, Angie now cowering into him with a fresh set of tears.

A sneer made its way across Erik's face, his eyes once again filling with amusement. This had become a morbid game to him, and much to Derek and Angie's dismay, their attempts to fight him only made him enjoy it all the more.

Derek immediately regretted his outburst upon bringing his gaze up to meet Erik's, aware that retribution was quickly coming to them. Terror pulsed through him with every pounding heartbeat as Erik grew eerily silent, his hand powerfully slamming the phone into the cradle instead of continuing to talk with the police.

Erik's shoes clomped against the tile with each heavy step he took, his paces echoing through the otherwise silent hall as a result of his towering, obese frame. In no time, he closed in on the two of them with his long strides, which had been drawn out in pace and timing; a tactic successful in instilling fear and suspense into both of them as they waited to see what was coming. Erik's eyes bore down onto Derek, and then slowly traced over to Angie. Back to Derek again, and then Angie once more.

Then, he spoke, in a growl.

"Get up."

Erik's command was directed at Angie, their assailant with his steely eyes on the nurse. Angie fearfully shot her gaze to Derek questioningly, eyes pleading with him for an answer he wished to God that he had.

"I said, get UP."

She had heard the second order, though overwhelming fear had taken over and held her in place despite knowing that she should obey in a timely fashion. The terror in her eyes was mirrored in Derek's, who simply stared back at her both petrified for what awaited her and furious that he had absolutely no means with which to protect her.

Their silent but tender exchange in the stare they held with one another, as somewhere in Angie's mind, she began to believe that this could be the last time she would see the man in front of her. Her racing thoughts were all of him, the feelings he produced rising to the surface and ready to spill out as she sat angry with herself for all the things she should have told him but never did.

Such a moment was cut short as an arm shot downward and Angie was pulled to her feet by her hair, blonde strands now firmly in Erik's grasp and spilling between the fingers of his closed fist. That hand remained in her hair and the other rose to grip her arm just above the elbow, Erik pulling her back until her body rested against the front of him. He sneered down at Derek, who was utilizing every last shred of self-control in his non-existent emotional reserve to fight off the instinct to beat the life out of whoever would dare to touch Angie in such a way. He was saved only by the realization that this current situation was due to his impulsive outburst, well aware that continuing to push the envelope would do nothing but worsen whatever was coming.

The surgeon scrambled to his feet and took an instinctive step forward, his hands up and in front of him in a sign of submission. Erik pulled both he and Angie back and away from Derek with a large step, expression clear that he was unamused by the surgeon attempting to do anything in that moment unless it was sit quietly.

"I'm the one you want." Derek spoke in a low, pleading whisper. "Just, please - take me and leave her alone."

Erik tightened his grip on Angie's hair with Derek's words, the tug producing a small whimper from the nurse that instinctively contorted Derek's expression from pleading but steadfast into terrified and hopeless. Erik noted this display and smiled again, realizing that he had finally, yet unknowingly, discovered the surgeon's Achilles' heel.

"So, tell me, doctor…" Erik began, voice dripping with cynicism as he mocked the man standing before him. "How is it that you can watch your other friends get hurt, but the second I lay a hand on this bitch, you flip out? Did I not torture them enough the first time around, or are you just in love with her?"

Derek paused as both Erik and Angie waited for his reply.

"You've punished everyone here more than enough." He finally stammered out, full of contempt. "None of them ever deserved to be a part of this."

"Ah, nice sidestep." Erik replied with a laugh. "So, you _are_ in love with her…"

Derek paused yet again and grit his teeth. It was clearly a trap, both of his options equally problematic. Admitting his feelings would identify a weakness for his captor to exploit, but a lie could force Erik to attempt to tip his hand. Either option he chose, Derek was certain that some type of harm was coming to Angie – all he could do now was to choose wisely to attempt to lessen the blow.

Derek's remorseful eyes locked with Angie's.

" _I'm sorry Angie – hopefully you can understand."_

"I don't love her."

Angie felt the grip on her hair loosen at Derek's revelation, the small relief of subsiding pain overshadowed by the crushing weight of disappointment that now graced her face. Their stare remained locked and tears began to sting her eyes, but she worked to prevent them from falling. She wouldn't cry about this in front of him, as it shouldn't have been surprising to her that she had been so wrong about the nature of his feelings – they had apparently always been one-sided, and with only four words, he had just cemented that as fact.

Derek, meanwhile, felt his heart drop into his stomach as he noted the shift in her demeanor. Part of the draw in lying to Erik had been the belief that Angie knew him well enough to see through it. Through their years together, the pair had become proficient at communicating their thoughts without a spoken word, though it was failing during a time which it was arguably more crucial than ever. While he still held her attention, Derek tried with every bit of him to convey the truth with a pleading, desperate gaze – however, her defeated exterior had made it clear that the damage had already been done.

And now, for both of their sake, backing out of the lie wasn't an option.

"…You don't?" Erik asked with slight confusion and surprise to his tone.

Derek sighed, having hoped to avoid any further discussion about such a thing. Unfortunately, he was stuck now, forced to keep driving the knife in to both he and Angie with words that physically pained him to speak.

"No, I don't love her," he continued with a shake of his head. "We're good friends because of how much time we spend at work together – that's all."

Derek choked the last of the sentence out, barely able to finish the biggest lie he had ever told. He had broken his stare with Angie in favor of looking to Erik, scared that if he dared meet his nurse's eyes again that the resulting despair would blow his cover. A silence had settled between the three of them, Derek now waiting for a response with a racing heart.

Erik's eyes remained fixated on Derek, difficulty deciphering his expression through the stone front the doctor had put up. His face blank, Erik stared Derek down until eventually, the corner of his lips turned up into a slimy, vengeful smile.

"Nice try, Stiles…" Erik sneered, Derek's stomach twisting into a fiery knot as he realized that the chance he had taken had failed.

"…but lying about it just strengthens the punishment for both of you." he finished with a snap, spinning around and kicking his leg backward. The door to their office flew open and hit the wall with a bang, a pained cry then coming from Angie as Erik's fist tightened once more around her hair and she was shoved into the room with the leverage. She spun around and looked around Erik until she could see Derek, her eyes filled with dread. The surgeon moved forward on instinct, quickly pacing toward the door until Erik's voice spoke a command that changed his plans in an instant.

"Move from that spot and I'll blow her head off." he spat, bringing Derek's steps to a screeching halt.

"You understand?"

Derek looked at Angie with quickly welling tears, aware that he was outmanned. Their captor had a gun, a foot in height, and at least one-hundred pounds on him, three things that brought him to the painful realization that he was utterly helpless. He would do anything to save her, though he was aware that without a better plan, attempting to intervene at this point would do more harm than good.

He was no good to her right then, but he'd be even less good to her dead.

"Derek! Derek, ple—"

Angie's panicked cry was cut off as the door slammed, Derek now stuck on the wrong side of it. The lock turned from the inside with a sickening click that echoed through the quiet hall, yet another reminder of just how powerless he was.

"Let's get something more romantic on in here, shall we?" Erik asked with a finger pointing toward the iPod, which had fallen silent a short time ago. Angie ignored the sarcastic request, instead backing herself into the corner behind Derek's desk as she pulled his chair in front of her body to block her attacker.

" _Stay away from me!"_

Her scream was only slightly muffled by the closed door, Derek still able to hear her perfectly. The tears that had welled earlier finally started to spill over, mind racing in search of an idea that would help Angie before harm could come to her. The situation unfolding in their office was wretched and nearly impossible to listen to, though Derek was rooted in place – even if he couldn't help her quite yet, the absolute last thing he would do was leave.

Angie's hands tightly gripped the top of Derek's wooden desk chair, as it was the only available weapon against her approaching attacker. Growing tired of the blockade between he and the nurse, Erik finally ripped it out of her hands with a growl with an ease that made it appear he was taking a toy from a child. He spun it back behind him and it crashed into the wall, Angie now trapped as Erik moved in.

"Even though you're a mouthy bitch, I've looked forward to getting a piece of your hot ass since the second I saw you."

Tears gathered and fell faster than Angie could stop them, the shrinking distance between her and Erik a stern reminder that if not for a quick intervention by Derek, she was likely mere seconds away from getting raped. She backed away until stopping at Derek's desk, her eyes never leaving Erik as her hands moved around on the wood surface in search of another weapon.

However, Angie's stomach suddenly turned and threatened to expel itself when her trembling, pale hand felt the cold metal of Derek's keys underneath her fingertips…

…there was no way for him to get into the office.

Erik finally left Angie's sight as her eyes closed themselves with a defeated, heavy sigh and a fresh set of fallen tears. Since the moment Erik had turned their lives upside down, Angie had forced herself to keep a slightly optimistic attitude, honestly believing somewhere inside her being that everything would turn out okay. However, with Derek's announcement and the fact that Erik was now inches away from doing with her as he pleased, the last of Angie's fragile spirit finally broke. The fire she was known for had been extinguished, wearied existence unable to do anything except stand still as the stranger closed in, all the while praying that it would be over soon. A thought of retaliation passed through her momentarily before it too was squelched – she was weak, defenseless, and apparently, this was now her fate.

" _Get off of me!"_

Derek heard Angie's shriek through her sobs, her desperate plea conjuring up a wave of frantic emotions inside of him.

"Angie…" he whispered, growing fury sending him charging toward the closed door.

"ANGIE!" he yelled, his fists now banging on the wood as hard as he could. Rage pulsed through him while his mind ran wild, mental imagery of what could be happening to her enough to send him into a rampage. He paced in a circle fervidly with both hands gripping the sides of his head, muttering angrily to himself to think of something, _anything_ that could get him on the other side of that door.

Because once he got there – once he stepped foot into that room…

He was personally going to beat that fucker to death.

"Angie, open the door!" Derek yelled again, pounding on it again when he heard her screams grow more panicked.

Erik lifted his mouth off of Angie's, previously having her locked in a forced kiss which made her feel like she was going to vomit up what little she had eaten that day.

"Why do you care, Stiles?" Erik yelled over his shoulder, still forcefully pinning Angie down with his towering frame, his grimy hands all over her body. "You're not in love with her, remember?!"

Angie hoped for a response, only hearing silence from Derek on the other end of the door.

"That's what I thought, fucker." Erik muttered, turning his attention back to Angie. She swatted at his hand as it crept up her thigh, trying with all her weight to push him off of her, but to no avail. His lips were back on hers now, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She felt herself gag as his putrid breath mingled with her own, his hands dangerously close to somewhere that no one had ever been.

The blonde nurse squeezed her green eyes shut, desperate to think of anything else as the unholy bastard ravaged her body with his hands, his mouth now clamped on her neck. It was no use, as not even the best memories she possessed could help distract her. Miserably turning her head to the right, she opened her eyes…

…just as Derek busted in through the door.

"Derek!" she squealed, still crying as Erik lifted his mouth off hers and turned his attention to the surgeon, who was tightly gripping a baseball bat that hung at his side. Angie immediately recognized it as the autographed one from Tyler's office, memory clicking when she realized that Derek had given him a spare key to their office quite some time ago.

She smiled internally.

He had come to save her.

"Why the fuck are you in here, Stiles – I thought I told you to stay the FUCK outside! Can't you see we're busy?" Erik snapped, grabbing hard onto Angie's chest with his giant hands, the nurse squeaking in pain from underneath him.

Derek glowered and took a step toward Erik, who from what he could see, had temporarily placed the gun in his pocket as he worked to assault Angie.

"I'm in here because I was lying before…" Derek started, pausing as he tossed the spare key to the office on the desk to free up his other hand, the metal clinking before it came to a rest.

"…of _course_ I love her."

And before either Angie or Erik could register the statement or the movement that came after it, Derek swung the bat upward, cracking him in the side of the head with a sound that was positively sickening.

Angie let out a startled shriek, holding onto Derek's desk for leverage as Erik's body slid off of hers and crumpled to the floor. Derek's eyes lingered on him momentarily to confirm his loss of consciousness before turning his gaze back to Angie, who was smiling at him with an incredibly relieved look on her face.

"You came to save me…?" Angie asked, sniffling as a small smile found its way to her lips.

Derek cracked a small grin while walking towards her, careful to step over Erik's unconscious form.

"Of course I did. I can't believe you thought I wouldn't."

They traded a glance, Angie ready to address what brought him into the room with a confession of her own, before Derek broke her thought.

"Come on – we need to hurry."

Extending his hand towards her with an exhausted smile, Derek helped a very wobbly Angie over Erik's body and moved with her towards the exit until his arm was jerked backward and her hand slipped from his. Unbeknownst to him, she had been grabbed from his grasps from behind, her surprised gasp the only warning he received before he was shoved forcefully out of his office, tripping once before eventually toppling to the floor. Confused, Derek rolled over to look back as the baseball bat clattered next to him, now terrified to see Erik's face staring back at him from the closing door.

"You think that weak ass hit took me out?!" he asked with a raspy laugh that made Derek sick. "Tch… All you managed do to is strengthen the punishment for both of you."

He leaned out the door and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"And now that I know I was right all along, it's going to be even better. Now you'll know what it's like to have someone bring harm to the woman you love."

"Leave her alone! Just fucking take me and get it the hell overwith already!" Derek yelled back, still seated on the floor as Erik was now pointing the gun at him once again.

Erik just laughed again in response to this and bent at the waist to put himself closer to Derek, ensuring that the surgeon heard every word he spoke.

"Oh no, the fun is just beginning, Dr. Stiles." he cooed. "She's all mine now, and I'm going to love making her scream – especially because I know it's going to drive you _crazy_."

The gun was no longer the biggest threat to Derek at that moment, and as such, he jumped to his feet, pushing his body to its max to get to the door. Unfortunately, it was of no use – Erik slammed it shut with a taunting laugh and locked it before he could get there, leaving Derek on the wrong side once more.

The surgeon stood in disbelief of how he could have possibly been so stupid for managing to leave the only spare key to their office in the room. Turning in a slow half-circle, he leaned back against the wall just to the left of door, sinking down until he was seated on the tile. It was all his fault – he had tried his best to save her, but good intentions were woefully insufficient in such a moment. He had failed, but not before escalating the situation and likely causing her more harm than before.

A sting pricked at the corners of Derek's eyes, quickly progressing into a pool of tears that threatened to stain his cheeks at any moment. He felt hopeless again, forced to sit and listen as another man said things to the woman he loved that quite literally made him feel as though his blood was boiling. The quest to fight back had failed and now he was left all alone, powerless, and at the mercy of passing time.

He sighed deeply. Loving someone meant protecting them at all cost, and mere seconds after he had admitted the emotion to someone for the first time in his life, he was already failing at one of its core concepts.

Rolling his head to the right, he saw the wooden bat lying just outside the door to the office, his mind spinning with ideas once more.

" _At least I still have some sort of weapon..._ "

Using the wall as leverage, Derek shakily rose to his feet and walked over to pick it up. He was proud of the fact that he had made a pretty solid hit on Erik, though pride quickly gave way to frustration at the plan's ultimate failure. He should have continued to beat him without mercy, one hit unable to do the damage necessary to permanently incapacitate him.

Gripping the bat tighter, Derek replayed the sequence in his mind. If he had one more chance – one more opportunity to catch him off guard, maybe… just maybe, he could finally take him down.

Swiftly and quietly, he ran toward the exit where his four friends had left a short time ago, relieved to find it still unlocked. Slowly and with as much caution as possible, he swung it all the way open, pressing it against the back of the wall where a giant magnet held it ajar. No sooner did he do this than he whirled around at a scream from their office, his heart sinking.

" _Just hold on Angie... do something to get him outside and I'll save us – I promise."_

Taking the nurses' station as a shortcut, Derek ran to the other side of the hallway and crouched behind the counter, the door to his office just in front of him and to the left. Hidden from plain view he waited, aware that they were rapidly approaching the last of the chances he would have to get them our alive.

Angie was successful in pushing Erik off of her, the passion she had lost now back and stronger than ever. Derek's attempt at a daring rescue reminded her of the deep bond they shared, and all the times he had prevented her from giving in since they had known one another. This would be no different: the man in the hall was something very tangible to fight for, a motivation that would prevent her from allowing her attacker to do with her as he pleased, much to his dismay. Her fighting spirit burned brightly once more, and unconsciously, she began calling to mind several Aikido techniques that had been mastered during her years of study. Angie swiftly started to move around the room to dodge her attacker, his frustration growing quickly out of control.

After several chases, a coffee table still separated them, Angie standing ready in front of the couch while Erik stared at her angry and annoyed from the other side.

"Oh, come on baby, quit being difficult…" he cooed, lunging forward to grab her arm though she easily evaded him. Another quick run around the table and they were back where they started, staring at one another in a deadlock.

"Ugh, ENOUGH!" he yelled, bending down and placing a hand under the obstacle in front of him.

Anticipating the move, Angie readied herself. She most likely only had one shot at an attack, and it had better be successful if she had any chance in an escape.

As she suspected, Erik pulled his arm up and flipped the coffee table, the piece of furniture bouncing over and crashing into her desk with a loud bang that vibrated the ground underneath them.

Erik took a step towards her, his advance coming to a screeching halt as Angie's heel spun towards him, forcefully kicking him in the side of the head and sending him clattering into Derek's desk.

And outside, Derek grew nervous having heard two giant clatters in a row. All he could do was stay put and pray that Angie was okay, which he found the answer to as Erik began yelling.

"Stupid BITCH!"

Angie nervously backed into a corner as Erik staggered to his feet and closed the distance between them. Before she could think to shield herself he punched her in the side of the face, dropping her to the floor with an excruciating scream.

Derek listened to her scream, concern overwhelming when he realized it was a scream of blinding pain. Crouched and steadied on the balls of his feet, he backed further up into his hiding place as the door to the office was thrown open, slamming against the wall with a bang. He could hear Angie clearly crying and trying to fight, losing the battle as her body was literally thrown out into the hallway.

Derek's eyes widened as her body hit the floor and skidded to a halt, her back facing him. Still crying, she rolled onto her back and then in his direction, eyes squeezed shut as she gripped onto her face. Unimaginable rage filled Derek as he saw what looked like a punch to her cheek, watching her shiver as her clothes were rumpled and half undone. She curled tightly into a ball just as Erik walked out and kicked her in the side.

It took every piece of strength and restraint that Derek possessed to stop from getting up and running to help her. Instead, he sunk further back behind the counter, cautious to prevent her from seeing him in fear of blowing his cover. Erik paced back into the office and one of Angie's eyes snapped open, the other remaining closed as it was now partially swollen. Derek could tell she was searching the area for him, panic visible when he was nowhere to be found. Using what little strength she had, Angie began to crawl away from Derek and their office, desperate to gain some distance between her and her assailant.

Swearing profusely, Erik walked back out of the room with the gun gripped tightly in his hand, his dark eyes staring down at a petrified Angie. Derek watched his attention snap over to the open door at the end of the hallway, immediately falling for the trap he had set.

"Oh, that FUCKER!" he screamed. "He left? He actually _left_?!"

-o-

Outside, Tyler and Victor sat in the police van with their eyes on the preparing sniper. Their focus shifted back to the audio being amplified from the phone inside, both men now alarmed and staring at each other in surprise as Erik started to scream.

" _He left? He actually left?!"_

Tyler and Victor both looked from each other to the officer that was with them, all three shocked at the unexpected turn of events.

"Derek left?!" Tyler exclaimed, jumping to his feet and swiping the pair of binoculars from the seat next to him. He frantically searched around, looking Caduceus over for any signs of the surgeon as the officer radioed to the chief. Pounding footsteps grew louder as the chief arrived quickly and with two other officers in tow, the men all running at the panicked radio call.

"The guy's freaking out in there – he says Derek's gone!"

"WHAT?!" the chief roared, pulling the radio to his mouth.

"I want men at all exits – keep your eyes out and hold your fire, we may have an escaping hostage!"

From a short distance away, Sidney and Robert rushed over to the van at the sudden peak of commotion, shocked and confused upon hearing the news of Derek's possible escape.

"I'm honestly at a loss." Robert said. "I have to admit, it surprises me that Derek would run for it without Angie."

"There's no way." Tyler replied, still tracing the building over with his binoculars. "I've known Derek a long time, and… there's just no way. He would never."

"How's the shot coming along?" the chief asked the sniper, the officer's eyes still in the eyepiece of his weapon though he spoke to answer his chief.

"He's in the perfect position where I have no shot. If I move farther to the right the window ends, and moving to the left is pointless because he's behind the wall. I've got nothing yet."

"So, what now?" Sidney asked, looking at the sniper.

"…We wait."

Sidney had never liked being told to wait, and this was definitely no exception.

Worsening his frustration, however, was the sound of another gunshot from inside the building.

Tyler looked through the binoculars again, constantly badgered by the rest of those around to tell him what he saw, especially as his mouth turned up into a big grin.

"What's happening?! Tell us!"

Tyler chuckled, pulling the binoculars from his face as he turned back to his coworkers.

"Well, Derek's not gone, that's for sure…"

-o-

Derek's heart dropped into his stomach when he saw Angie turn her head up to look at the open door, her expression quickly growing panicked and her cries coming again as she worried that he really did leave her behind.

In his disbelief at the situation, Erik stumbled a few steps backward, now just two feet away from Derek's hiding spot though his back was still turned to the stealthy surgeon. Ready to jump up and reacquaint his face with the bat, Derek instead spiraled into a panic as he heard the gun cock, a whimpering Angie now staring down the barrel.

"Your doctor sure must love you if he would leave you here." he began sarcastically, the barrel pointed unwaveringly at Angie. "I already told him if he dared leave that I would blow you to smithereens…"

Derek quietly rose from his hiding spot, bat held in a ready swinging position.

"… and sorry to say, a promise _is_ a promise."

Stepping towards Erik as stealthily as he could manage, Derek pulled the bat back behind him, aiming carefully as he only had one swing to get it right. He felt instant relief when on the completion of his swing, the bat made contact with the gun and sent it flying across the room. It discharged somewhere unknown and Angie screamed in shock, quickly discovering that another hole graced the drywall at the end of the hallway just feet behind where she laid.

"ANGIE!" Derek yelled as he took another swing, this time cracking Erik in the skull again. "Angie, get the gun!"

Angie was a mess of emotions as she staggered to her feet, stumbling forward towards where the black pistol laid. She pitched forward as her wobbly legs gave out from under her, now crawling to the gun.

"Die, you son of a bitch!" Derek yelled, taking another swing.

Instead of making contact with Erik again, the bat stopped in mid swing, the giant hand of their attacker now firmly encircling the big end of the weapon. He spun fully around until directly facing Derek, reached up, and placed his other hand on the end of the bat with the handle. The two men glared at each other in a deadlock, two different shades of brown eyes at battle while they both fought to obtain control of the shared weapon. Pulling the bat towards him, Erik suddenly threw all of his strength into it as he let go, sending Derek sailing backwards through the air and into the wall. He rubbed his head from where it made impact with the drywall, the corner of his eye on Angie as she grew ever closer to obtaining possession of the gun.

"Rule number one of taking hostages…" Erik explained, his gut-wrenching laugh billowing into the air. He bent over and pulled up his pant leg, removing another revolver from a holster just above his ankle.

"No…" Derek muttered under his breath, willing his tired body to rise to its feet once more.

"…always bring backup."

"Angie…! RUN!"

Angie's blonde hair fanned out in a circle as she whipped her head back to see another gun in Erik's grasps, Derek trying quickly to close the distance between them. He ran forward, trying to place himself in front of the projectile before it discharged, though unfortunately, he was too late. Another gunshot rang through the air, the deafening sound followed by a blood-curdling scream from Angie on the other side of the room, a painful reminder to Derek that yet again, he had failed to protect her.

Derek crashed to the floor just in front of Erik and extended his head upward to see Angie screaming, her hands gripping her thigh as blood poured out from between her fingers.

The doctor grit his teeth, using his position on the floor to swing around and kick Erik's feet out from under him. His massive limbs flailed a few times in the air as gravity pulled him down and onto the tile, his back slamming against it with a massive thud upon contact. The gun had slipped from his grasp as he had fallen, clattering on the tile just feet away from the men. Derek began to scurry toward it immediately, Erik scrambling to follow him.

Willing herself to crawl through the pain, Angie finally managed to get to the other gun and pulled it into her shaking hands. She sat up and stretched her arm up as far as it would go to set the weapon on the counter just above her, gritting her teeth as she fought off the urge to scream at her wound. With all her might and only one leg, she pulled herself up by the edge of the counter until she was standing upright, grabbing the gun off the countertop and pointing it at Erik, who was now wrestling Derek for the other firearm.

Angie extended her shaking hand forward, aiming the weapon at Erik as a trembling index finger wound around the trigger. If it had been a clear shot she would've pulled back without hesitation, desperate to stop this nightmare by ending the man's existence. However, he was tangled tightly with Derek, the surgeon's proximity to him, her swollen eye, and lack of experience with guns all preventing her from taking the chance. Unfortunately for Derek he was losing the battle, Erik able to regain control of his gun and shortly after backhanding Derek across the face with it. The hit produced an instant laceration on his forehead and dropped him to the ground, Erik immediately bending down to yank the surgeon up by the collar of his scrubs. He spun him around and held him firmly against his body with an arm around his neck, both men now facing Angie.

Derek began to shake uncontrollably when he heard Erik cock the gun, and nearly defecated himself upon feeling the cold, metal barrel settle directly on his temple. Chunks of his messy brown hair fell in front of his eyes as he stared at his nurse across the room, eyes silently begging her to do something while the gushing blood from his gash dyed his tanned skin a savory crimson. She hadn't noticed his silent plea, however, as she wasn't looking at him – her narrow, determined eyes were locked firmly on Erik.

The three stood in a stalemate: Angie pointing her gun at Erik, and Erik pointing his at Derek, none brave enough to make the first move.

-o-

"Oh, SHIT! Murray! Murray, you better hurry the fuck up!"

The sniper responded to Officer Brooks' warning with silence, attempting to block out the distractions around him and prevent himself from becoming rattled under the extreme pressure.

"What's going on?" Sidney asked, turning to Tyler who pulled the binoculars to his face once again.

"Oh God… There's a gun to Derek's head."

"Give me those!" Sidney barked, nearly ripping the binoculars out of Tyler's grasp.

"Holy shit…" he muttered, his sights now on something different.

"I know, right?" Tyler responded. "Poor Derek…"

"I'm not talking about Derek, I'm talking about Angie!"

Victor, Robert, and Tyler all snapped to look at Sidney, who handed the binoculars over to the chief so he could see.

"What do you mean? What's going on with Angie?!" Tyler exclaimed.

Sidney turned around to face his colleagues and stammered out an answer in mild shock.

"She has a gun…"

-o-

"Drop the gun, and I won't blow your boyfriend to bits."

The words stung like the side of her face, which was now swollen and slightly bloody from the punch he had landed. It was growing more edematous by the second and beginning to interfere with her vision, though she paid it no mind as she intently focused her attention forward.

Derek stared at Angie with his eyes wide, pleading for her to do as he said.

"…N-No."

Erik chuckled briefly before grinding the barrel of the gun harder into Derek's flesh, her defiance pushing him closer to pulling the trigger.

"No…? You _want_ to see him die?" he retorted, his arm tightening around Derek's neck.

Angie stood shaking, holding herself up a task that was becoming more difficult by the second, the pain in her leg growing unbearable.

"I didn't say that." she corrected, "I just said I'm not letting go…"

She tried to focus on the shot, though most of her energy was being spent on attempting to remain upright. Erik was taller than Derek, his head a clear target if she could will herself to pull back.

But, one wrong move…

-o-

The chief and two of his officers, Victor, Robert, Tyler, and Sidney all listened in shock to the mic'd conversation in disbelief that Angie was refusing to give up the gun.

"What is she DOING?!" Sidney roared, unable to bring himself to drop the binoculars. He could faintly make out Derek and the man, but had a perfect view of Angie and the gun in her grasp, her hand visibly trembling.

"She's going to get them both killed…" Robert whispered, half under his breath.

"He needs to take the shot… they're nearly in front of the window, and he said that he had it lined up, didn't he?"

The chief whirled to look at Sidney after his sudden outburst, visibly annoyed.

"Dr. Kasal, snipers do not work well when they have people rushing them – this is something that requires the utmost caution and focus."

Raising a hand to his forehead, Sidney scoffed, trying to reason.

"He's going to kill Derek – you've all waited long enough for your chance, and if you wait any longer, it may be too late!"

"Dr. Kasal!" the chief barked firmly, stepping to Sidney. "Nobody understands the gravity of this situation more than my men – step back and let us do our job."

Sidney nodded, dejectedly. Sure, patience wasn't his strong point, but having orders thrust at him was something he had an even harder time coping with.

And so he stood, waiting with hope that the time for action was soon.

-o-

"I'll give you one more chance." Erik muttered, his voice now dark and sinister. "Drop the gun."

"Angie, please… just do what he says." Derek begged, his pleading eyes focused on her with a hopeful gaze. Angie had barely registered Derek's request, her mind trying to decide on a course of action. Whether she took a shot or disarm herself, she'd have to choose quickly – the strength in her good leg was giving out rapidly.

"If you don't drop the gun I'll kill him, and then I'll kill you right after." Erik snapped. "So, if I were you, I'd make your decision wisely."

Another tense silence permeated through the hall, during which Derek caught a glance outside for the first time. The Caduceus parking lot had become a circus, his eyes quickly scanning over the multitudes of people until his eyebrows raised and his eyes filled with a glimmer of hope – a sniper was perched on the top of a patrol car, the gun pointed directly their way.

Derek Stiles had taken plenty of risks that day, but as he stood in the grasps of a madman who had put both he and the woman he loved through hell, he decided to take definitive action to end it all. It would be his last chance – the proverbial Hail Mary – and in his mind, the only course of action that remained.

Whether or not he would be alive at the end of it – that was the question.

"Wait."

Angie shot her gaze to Derek as his deep, trembling voice broke the silence.

"I have a proposition for you."

" _Hurry Derek, I can't stand here much longer!"_

"For me?"

Derek could feel Erik's breath on the top of his head at the response, the surgeon nodding though he knew it went unnoticed.

"Yes. For you."

Erik paused momentarily, his interest piqued. Before responding, he looked back over at the nurse, who appeared as though losing her footing was imminent.

"I'm listening, Stiles."

Derek kept his stare with Angie across the room as he spoke.

"I don't want anything to happen to Angie… she doesn't deserve any more than you've already put her through."

"Oh, cut the mushy gushy shit and get to the point already."

Derek paused, biting his lip as he sent her a warm smile, tears now pooling in his eyes.

"Let her go safely…"

He took in a shuttering breath, watching Angie's face contort into a mix of panic and confusion.

"…and you can kill me."

-o-

"Oh, son of a bitch." the chief exclaimed, his head whipping back to his subordinates. "Did he just say what I think he said?!"

The small group of officers and Derek's colleagues had all traded surprised glances with one another upon hearing Derek's proposition loud and clear over the speaker, the group at a collective loss.

"What is he _doing_?!" Victor hissed into Tyler's ear, his arms flailing to animate his dissatisfaction. "Is he crazy? What the hell could possibly be going through his mind right now?!"

"He's not crazy, Victor..." Tyler replied gently, the blonde surgeon standing with his arms crossed, eyes up toward the building. His head shook back and forth slowly, a sympathetic smile on his face as he pondered Victor's question momentarily before realizing he had long known the answer.

"…he's in love."

-o-

"Derek…!"

Derek Stiles hesitated at the frantic shout before turning his teary eyes to his nurse, her panicked sobs making it near impossible for him to keep his composure. He was responsible for the horror on her face and the shriek in her voice, his subconscious aware that his proposition was likely much harder to hear than it was for him to say.

"Derek, no! NO… you _can't_! I won't let you!"

"Stiles?"

Erik's voice came in a husky whisper, his breath tickling Derek's ear in a way that chilled the surgeon to the bone. The silence in his pause was deafening, time passing by in a crawl as Derek awaited his response with hope and intense fear.

And when it finally came, he honestly couldn't tell if he should be relieved, terrified, or both.

"…you've got yourself a deal."

"NO!" Angie cried, overwhelming grief finally zapping the last of the strength she possessed. Her arms finally lost grip on the counter and she crashed to the floor with a pained shriek; one of both intense emotional and physical pain. "Derek… Derek, wait! Please don't do this!"

Her cries ate into his soul, finally freeing the tears that had been pooling. He felt the heat of them trail down his cheeks one by one, utterly terrified but with hope that what he was doing really was for the best. It was a compromise that had been offered with the most selfless of intent, but it didn't mean that watching her reaction and mulling the consequences himself weren't both awful in their own way.

Now, to wait.

-o-

"We're in trouble." Officer Brooks declared. "He accepted Derek's offer, but Angie hasn't budged and the shot is too risky from here. We're running out of time."

Having overheard the dire situation, Sidney felt a familiar pressure in his chest; namely, the one that normally accompanied an impending loss of self-control. Maintaining patience through such a harrowing day had been nearly impossible, and as the time left for action ran low, his tolerance thinned to a point at which a break was imminent.

"I understand that the shot is risky, but isn't this what your training is for? We can't afford to stand around anymore – take the bastard out!" Sidney blurted out, lack of tact overriding what little self-control remained.

"Dr. Kasal." Officer Green snapped. " _One_ more outburst and your time with us will be over."

Sidney bit his lip, hard. Being on the other side of direct orders was a foreign position, one he didn't much appreciate.

He exhaled slowly and nodded to the officer in front of him, who took her stern eyes off of him only after confirming that he had understood the ultimatum presented.

Sure, he hated it. However, in order to help his colleagues and also stay abreast of the situation, shutting up wasn't just a request at that point – it was now mandatory.

-o-

"Are you deaf?!" Erik questioned, mild astonishment on his face that she hadn't taken such an opportunity and run for it. "Get the hell out of here!" he ordered in a roar, not so much as a flinch from Angie as she continued sobbing hopelessly on the floor.

"No!" she replied, voice dripping with malevolence. "I'm not going _anywhere_!"

The end of her defiant sentence was punctuated by an ear-shattering scream,

"Listen, bitch." Erik shot back with an amused chortle. "Here are your options: leave, or watch him die."

The answer was short and snappy, though it failed to deter her. Abandoning Derek at the most vital moment of the day wasn't an option, and though she lacked a back-up plan, stalling as long as possible seemed like the only assistance she could provide.

Ignoring a now annoyed Erik, Angie concentrated on Derek.

"Derek…" she cried, pleading with him to reconsider. "Please don't - you can't do this!""

"Angie."

Derek's gentle but stern voice prompted Angie to quiet herself, pausing from her frenzied begging to look him deep in his eyes. They lingered in stillness with a deadlocked gaze, hers unbelievably frightened while he somehow managed to veil his overwhelming anxiety. His stare was instead sincere and loving, a fleeting glance the only method with which he could convey his persistence and sincere hope that she place her faith in him.

"It's okay… it will be okay…" he reassured in a voice as composed as she had ever heard during a situation which he should have been anything but.

His calm in the moment, however, did nothing but aggravate her.

"No, how could you say that?! How could this _possibly_ be okay?!" she shouted back, infuriated by what she perceived as nonchalance.

As she collapsed into sobs again, Derek changed his voice to a sterner tone, this time catching her attention for real.

"Angie, you need to go. Please…"

She looked up at him, taking note of the fact that this was the tone of voice he saved for whenever he really meant business.

"Please… _trust_ me."

Reiterating his request with strong emphasis on the word 'trust', all Derek had left was hope. Hope that their solid bond would end with her reading his mind, hope that his plan would leave her unharmed, hope that he would somehow walk out the doors of Caduceus at the end of this.

One of those wishes was about to be granted – partially, at least.

With a sniffle and a positively miserable glare, Angie ceased her fierce resistance and devastated, crawled away with her own plan…

She wasn't leaving at all.

Instead, she dragged her worn body just behind the nurses' station and hid, perfectly still until the lack of noise could be construed as her departure. A few minutes passed before she heard voices again, a chill through her as she mentally readied herself to remain quiet during both her excruciating mental and physical pain.

"It's taken us way too long to get to this moment." Erik sneered, cocking the gun. "I hope you're ready, because I sure am – I've been waiting for this all day."

Derek heaved in a big breath as he glanced outside for what he feared would be the last time. Brown eyes quickly scanned the landscape below until pinpointing the sniper, who was still in place and likely awaiting an opportunity to strike.

"Wait…" Derek interjected quietly, the shakiness in his voice evident now that he didn't attempt to mask it on Angie's behalf. "…one more request, if I may?"

Erik scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes, hard. "You're annoying as shit, you know that?"

"I'm sorry." Derek replied, not even slightly apologetic but attempting to preserve what little patience his captor still possessed. "It's just… there's quite the circus going on outside, and I really don't want my death on the evening news circuit – this'll be hard enough for my family as it is. Can you, just… can you step behind me and shield me from the window?"

Though he hesitated initially, Erik eventually released his grip on Derek, who reached a hand up and rubbed his sore neck with a wince.

"Fine." he spat, a revoltingly excited smile creeping across his lips. "Bullet to the back of the head: what a nice way to go out…"

Derek exhaled a shuddering breath and briefly closed his eyes.

" _Here's where I pray they're paying attention."_

-o-

"Yikes." The chief muttered, his subordinates and the nearby employees of Caduceus turning to him in curiosity. Though they were all able to hear Derek and Erik's conversation via the speaker inside, everyone but the chief was unsure of what came next.

"Murray…" he barked, his booming voice carrying over to the sniper who did not so much as flinch at his chief's command. A brief flicker of his eyes toward the van was the only tell that he was paying attention, a subtle tell that the chief noticed and used as a push to continue speaking unimpeded. "Ready yourself – it sounds like Stiles has a plan in there."

Derek's friends and bosses exchanged collective glances before returning their attention to the sniper, who soon requested clarification.

"What am I looking for?" Officer Murray shouted back to his chief, gaze through his eyepiece to keep his shot lined up.

"Watch for him to shield Derek with his back to us. It's a clean shot, but I doubt you'll have much time."

"Come on, Derek…" Tyler mumbled under his breath. "You can do this."

-o-

At the surgeon's request, Erik moved his towering form behind him. Derek's shaking hands gripped the edge of the counter, bracing himself as best as he could while nervously awaiting impact.

"We had fun today, Stiles, I do admit…" Erik whispered with a gruff tone that was of little comfort in what Derek worried would be the last moments of his life. "But, watching your brains splatter _is_ why I came here, after all…"

Derek squeezed his eyes shut at his assailant's words, fear mounting as he wondered what was taking so long outside. A wave of shame suddenly washed over him, feeling foolish for attempting something so risky with only a hope that the officers outside would be able to use it to save his life.

Unfortunately, it had been the last-ditch effort that he never wanted to utilize. And now, his wearied body was incapable of fighting any longer, the next twist of the day in the hands of either the man that stood behind him or the sniper that remained perched outside.

All he could hope was that the right man would decide his fate.

-o-

"There it is!" Sidney exclaimed, binoculars nearly glued to his face. He spotted exactly what the chief had described: Derek was barely visible, nearly completely eclipsed by the man who had unleashed such hell on the brightest surgeon in Caduceus. "He's in plain view, take the shot!"

"Dr. Kasal!" Officer Green bit in a hushed but forceful tone. "Do not address him directly, this situation is critical!"

Sidney Kasal recoiled at the rebuke, as finally, something snapped. His patience had finally exhausted itself, dissatisfaction and frustration at the perceived lack of appropriate management something he was no longer able to tolerate.

"You've _got_ to be joking." he spat, pacing quickly toward the officer in question. "This whole DAY has been critical, and what have you done?! Waited until the last possible moment to make your move?! Take the FUCKING shot and save my surgeon!"

Officer Green's expression held slight guilt at his outburst, though before a response could be given, Sidney felt hands grip both of his arms and begin to pull him away.

"No… NO! Don't!" he shouted, struggling against the two officers pulling him away from the scene. His panicked gaze flickered to his helpless colleagues who could only watch him go, and then to the sniper, who cocked his gun as his finger curled around the trigger.

-o-

A shiver fired down Derek's spine as the cold, metal gun barrel came to rest on his occiput. The chill dissipated instantaneously, replaced by increasing heat as his body shook out of control and beads of nervous sweat began to form along his hairline.

This was it: seconds were all that stood between him and eternity, a fact that he would have liked to forget, though the worsening pressure of the gun to his head didn't exactly afford him such an opportunity.

In this moment, Angie quietly snuck out from around the corner of the nurse's station and fixed her eyes on Derek, trying with all her might to hold in her anguished cries. Her mind raced with potential solutions, a feeling in the pit of her stomach that her interference was the only thing that could possibly save him now. Every day of work, fear and adrenaline normally pushed her to work and act quickly. Though in this moment - this crucial, pivotal moment – such emotions were acting against her. She sat motionless as she watched the man she loved about to die before her, unable to tear herself away from the shock and petrification of it long enough to think of something to prevent the unthinkable from happening.

Instead, the only thing on her mind was a constant, dreadful replay of all the times that she should have come clean to him. He held a place in her heart that had never previously been occupied, and how she could have come to this moment without letting him know was enough to break her heart in two.

Little did she know, as Derek's eyes blinked open and shut again, the only thoughts in his mind were also of her. Her smile and her laugh, her warm heart and her fiery personality - the latter something he loved more when he was not on the receiving end of, but something that he adored, nonetheless.

A brief smirk touched his lips as their time together flashed through his mind – crazy at it was, he swore that if he made it out of this alive, he was going to ask her to marry him the second he saw her.

"See you in hell, doctor." Erik growled, snapping Derek from his brief respite of joy and back to his imminent doom. "Hope the media didn't find another way to tape thi—"

Derek felt the barrel rise from the back of his head, though Erik's body remained behind him.

"You sneaky fucking son of a bitch…!"

A splintering crash resounded through the hallway as a bullet drilled through the window of Caduceus. One second earlier and the shot would have hit the right man. However, Erik had become wise to Derek's plan just prior to taking Derek out himself, and had stepped just enough to the side to place the surgeon square in the path of the sniper's shot.

And so, with horror in her eyes, Angie watched Derek's body jolt, blood instantly visible on his scrubs. His shattering scream rang through the air as the bullet pierced his back, the force of the shot knocking him forward and off balance. His head slammed into the edge of the counter and instantly knocked him unconscious, limp body slumping over the counter and sliding backwards until he crashed to the floor face down.

And once he dropped, he did not move.

-o-

"FUCK!"

Officer Murray's exclamation was enough to instantly turn the stomachs of Derek's colleagues, his profane shout an obvious tell that things hadn't gone as planned.

"What happened?" the chief questioned, rushing quickly to the sniper's side as he immediately reloaded.

"He fucking moved! Get the medics in there, NOW – I got Derek!"

A ripple of grief-filled shrieks resounded through the crowd, followed by hushed discussions among them.

"This can't be happening." Tyler whispered, his eyes immediately beginning to sting and water. He attempted to breathe around the growing lump in his throat, a hand coming to rest over his mouth as his head shook slowly back and forth. The thought of having gone through such a devastating day to come up just short was unbearable to think of. It was hard enough remembering his girlfriend and colleague receiving care at a hospital across town, but Derek on top of it?

Robert and Victor dropped their heads instantly, the elder man in prayer while the younger just began muttering to himself repeatedly.

The officers dragging Sidney stopped in their tracks at the commotion, setting the director down on the ground gently. It felt as though the life had literally drained from him in that moment, unable to do much except sit and stare miserably up at the building. He eventually dropped his head into his hands and closed his eyes, brain attempting to maintain a positive outlook though it was wholly ineffective.

Tyler looked over to the door with frustration, as the police were motioning for the paramedics to stay put. He finally began to understand Sidney's outburst prior to that point, as if it were up to him, he would be running full-speed into the building himself. Seconds were crucial in moments like this, especially since Derek's condition was unknown.

Still holding his head, Sidney's eyes blinked open. His heartbeat thumped away in his ears as all other sound drowned out and time seemingly slowed around him. People continued to move frantically, yelling and barking orders to one another, though he failed to process any of it. Simply put, he no longer cared – nothing was important until he was certain that Derek and Angie were okay.

"Stay there, stay there, stay there…" the sniper mumbled to himself as he stared through the eyepiece at his target. Within a split second his finger curled around the trigger and pulled back once more, a thumbs-up all they received after the shot had been taken. With this affirmation the chief began shouting orders into his radio and the medical team rushed into Caduceus, followed closely by hordes of members of the SWAT team and the Angeles Bay Police Department.

And stuck outside were all of Derek and Angie's loved ones, standing in the deafening silence with nothing to do but hope, and wait.

-o-

As Derek hit the ground, Erik finally took notice of Angie, who had since come out from her hiding place behind the nurse's station. She had been unable to hold it together any longer, her frantic screams giving her away as she struggled to stand up.

"Do you ever listen?!" he shouted, patience clearly expended. "What the fuck are you still doing here?!"

His hand reached over to pick up his gun once more, which had been previously laid on the counter. Angie did not answer such a pointless question and paid no mind to him drawing his weapon once more, simply sobbing as she used what little strength she had left to remain standing. Her eyes were affixed on Derek's motionless form, terrified that he was already dead – his head faced her but his eyes were not open, her attention focused on his torso and furiously attempting to determine whether or not he was still breathing.

When she could not make out any motion in his chest, her panic grew out of control. It was likely due to her vantage point and shot nerves, but the situation was dire either way. The gun was now pointed at her once more, a fierce command to "shut the fuck up!" her only realization that she had been screaming Derek's name the whole time.

"You know what? It doesn't matter – I owe him nothing now…" Erik reasoned, finger curled around the trigger to his pistol. "Say goodbye, you mouthy bitch…"

Unlike the first shot from the sniper, the second bullet was right on time and perfectly on target. It exploded through the glass and burrowed itself directly into the side of Erik's skull, his eyes instantly rolling into the back of his head. His death seemed to be immediate, but after being fooled so many times before, Angie did not move while waiting to confirm it as truth.

His body swayed momentarily before toppling forward and falling to the floor, dead before he hit.

It landed directly on top of Derek's unconscious body.

And neither man so much as stirred.


End file.
